Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Stock Has Average Target Price of $83.87 According to Brokerages

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.20.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WLK shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $67.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Bank of America cut their price target on Westlake from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Westlake from $89.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Westlake from $106.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Westlake from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 16th.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other Westlake news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $3,120,724.44. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares in the company, valued at $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter valued at $240,474,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,388,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at $19,544,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Westlake by 28.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 236,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,685,000 after buying an additional 52,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robotti Robert purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,183,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of WLK stock opened at $62.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $70.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a PE ratio of -6.54 and a beta of 0.69. Westlake has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.18. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 10.94%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.11) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Westlake will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a dividend of $0.5330 per share. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -22.23%.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials, as well as products used in housing and infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company serves customers in construction, packaging, healthcare, consumer products, automotive, and other industrial markets.

Westlake’s materials portfolio includes chlor-alkali and derivative chemicals, polyethylene, PVC, vinyl intermediates, epoxy resins, and other specialty products. These materials are used in applications such as water treatment, coatings, adhesives, plastics, medical products, and packaging.

Through its housing and infrastructure businesses, Westlake also produces building products including vinyl siding, trim, roofing products, pipe, fittings, and related components.