Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Cut to $96.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $122.00 to $96.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WLK. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $103.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their target price on Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.92.

Westlake Stock Down 1.0 %

Westlake stock opened at $78.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 109.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.16. Westlake has a one year low of $76.31 and a one year high of $161.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.47%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Westlake by 251.1% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 127.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 427 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.