Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at KeyCorp

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was upgraded by analysts at KeyCorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Westlake’s Q3 2026 earnings at $1.09 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.56 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $2.55 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $2.70 EPS.

WLK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 price target on Westlake in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.92.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $71.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.70. Westlake has a 1-year low of $56.33 and a 1-year high of $124.23. The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a PE ratio of -7.47 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.39.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 10.94%.The company’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.11) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $3,120,724.44. Following the sale, the chairman owned 642,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,610,406.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in Westlake by 1.3% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in 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 buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $178,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Westlake by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 6,868 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company produces chemicals, polymers and building products used in construction, infrastructure, packaging, healthcare, consumer goods and other industrial applications.

Its Performance and Essential Materials businesses manufacture products such as chlor-alkali chemicals, vinyl chloride monomer, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene, epoxy resins and related specialty materials.