Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Lowered to $110.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

WLK has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 6th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Westlake from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.40.

Westlake Trading Down 4.6%

NYSE:WLK opened at $99.94 on Wednesday. Westlake has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23. The stock has a market cap of $12.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.87 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $111.81 and a 200-day moving average of $89.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.17.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.31) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Westlake will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.69%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total value of $1,756,916.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,484,178.36. This represents a 28.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in Westlake by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $935,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Westlake by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Westlake by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 28,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,136,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted 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 worth $802,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Westlake

Here are the key news stories impacting Westlake this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company sustainability win — Westlake Epoxy’s Deer Park site earned ISCC PLUS certification, expanding its EpoVIVE mass-balance offering across Europe and the U.S., which could help win customers and support premium product mix. ISCC PLUS Certification
• Positive Sentiment: Management noted late-quarter margin improvement and rising resin prices, which may help margins recover if sustained into upcoming quarters. Zacks: Q1 Earnings Miss
• Neutral Sentiment: Company published its Q1 2026 results, slide deck and call transcript (detailed disclosures available), providing investors with the full detail to model recovery timing and cash-flow impacts. Use the materials to check segment trends and cost actions. BusinessWire: Q1 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target from $125 to $110 and kept an “equal weight” rating — the new TP still implies modest upside from current levels but reflects more conservative near-term expectations. Benzinga: Wells Fargo
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 financial miss — Westlake reported a $0.77 loss per share vs. consensus around a $0.10 loss and revenue of $2.65B vs. ~$2.79B expected; revenue fell about 6.8% year-over-year, driven by lower prices and weaker end-market demand. MarketBeat: Earnings Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade — JPMorgan cut WLK from “neutral” to “underweight” and set a $90 target, signaling expectations for more downside as cyclical headwinds persist. Benzinga: JPMorgan
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction — coverage notes and headlines report shares plunged after the earnings miss and weak outlook; higher volume suggests the move reflects broad concern about near-term demand and profitability. Yahoo: Shares Plunge
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus still projects positive FY EPS (street ~ $1.90 for the year), so the market will be watching upcoming quarters for evidence of margin recovery and volume stabilization before changing longer-term views. (See earnings call transcript for management commentary.) Seeking Alpha: Call Transcript

About Westlake

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.