Citigroup Lowers Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target to $75.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at Citigroup from $88.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 30.62% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on WLK. Tudor Pickering raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $90.00 target price on shares of Westlake and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Westlake from $87.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.67.

Westlake Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE:WLK traded down $1.23 on Wednesday, hitting $57.42. 577,422 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,068,042. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.60. Westlake has a 52 week low of $57.05 and a 52 week high of $133.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -108.23 and a beta of 0.95.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.47). Westlake had a positive return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.57%.The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 11.8% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Westlake by 0.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 28,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,136,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in Westlake by 4.1% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 5,020 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 54.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Westlake by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 640 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Company Profile

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.