Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by Piper Sandler

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was downgraded by Piper Sandler from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $120.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $135.00. Piper Sandler’s price target indicates a potential upside of 19.15% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on WLK. Citigroup upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.00.

Westlake Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $100.71 on Wednesday. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $99.18 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.68.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 247.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Westlake by 6,316.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by 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.