Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Lowered to $170.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $174.00 to $170.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on WLK. StockNews.com lowered Westlake from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho started coverage on Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They set an outperform rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays raised Westlake from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $167.17.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $144.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $144.19 and a 200 day moving average of $148.52. Westlake has a 12 month low of $112.77 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The firm has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 69.29, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Westlake will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $308,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at $420,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 3,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at $1,273,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.