Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Rating Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $110.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $135.00.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.07.

Westlake Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE WLK opened at $110.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The company has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 155.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17. Westlake has a one year low of $104.74 and a one year high of $162.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $113.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Westlake by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Westlake by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 346,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,759,000 after buying an additional 28,505 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 3,182.3% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 219,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,112,000 after buying an additional 212,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. 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.