Bank of America Upgrades Westlake (NYSE:WLK) to “Buy”

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was upgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $174.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $138.00. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 15.42% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $139.00 to $134.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Vertical Research cut shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.79.

Westlake Stock Up 1.2 %

WLK opened at $150.76 on Thursday. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $103.28 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $146.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.30.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.09). Westlake had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total value of $560,371.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total value of $560,371.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total transaction of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,306 shares in the company, valued at $6,389,052.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,658 shares of company stock worth $1,923,225 in the last ninety days. 74.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Westlake by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,049,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Westlake by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 243,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,017,000 after buying an additional 10,077 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,102 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Westlake by 236.9% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,313 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,149,000 after buying an additional 6,549 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake during the 1st quarter worth approximately $118,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.