Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Rating Lowered to Underweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was downgraded by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $90.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 14.28% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WLK. Zacks Research raised shares of Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Westlake from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Mizuho increased their price target on Westlake from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Westlake from $129.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.00.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $105.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.97 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $111.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.13. Westlake has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.22% and a negative net margin of 13.50%.The business’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.31) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Westlake will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Westlake by 90.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,869,000 after buying an additional 18,321 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Westlake by 9.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Westlake during the first quarter worth $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Westlake by 43.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 18.2% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Westlake this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Deer Park site achieves ISCC PLUS certification, expanding the EpoVIVE™ mass-balance offering across the U.S. and Europe — supports long?term sustainability positioning and market access in coatings, wind energy and other end markets. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Related entity Westlake Chemical Partners (WLKP) boosted its distribution after a strong quarter — positive for the group but the benefit to Westlake Corporation (WLK) is indirect and limited. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Material Q1 miss on both profit and revenue: Westlake reported EPS of ($0.77) vs. consensus (~($0.10)) and revenue of $2.65B vs. ~$2.79B; sales were down ~6.8% year?over?year and margins were negative. These results underpin the sell?off and raise near?term earnings risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and commentary emphasize a weak outlook — major outlets report the stock plunged after the miss and cautious management commentary, signaling investor concern about demand and near?term recovery. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst and transcript coverage highlights the magnitude of the miss versus estimates and operational metrics (Zacks coverage and the Q1 earnings call/transcript provide color on drivers, volumes and cost pressures investors will watch). Read More. Read More.

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.