Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.7857.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Mizuho cut their price target on Westlake from $110.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Westlake from $106.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Westlake from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 433.4% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,011 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,737,000 after acquiring an additional 30,072 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,062,000. Aventail Capital Group LP bought a new position in Westlake in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,037,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 204,226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,100,000 after acquiring an additional 15,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new position in Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $798,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock traded up $0.95 during trading on Monday, reaching $75.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 774,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,178,190. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $85.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.27. Westlake has a 52 week low of $56.33 and a 52 week high of $124.23. The firm has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a PE ratio of -5.94 and a beta of 0.62.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.67). Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.31) EPS. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Westlake will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s payout ratio is -16.69%.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.