Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $81.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS cut Westlake’s price target from $86 to $81 but maintained its Buy rating, implying 22.24% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst views are mixed: MarketBeat reports a consensus Hold rating and an $80.80 average price target, with four Buy, eight Hold, and three Sell ratings.
• Westlake’s latest quarterly earnings per share of $0.45 fell short of the $0.49 estimate, while revenue of $2.98 billion exceeded expectations and rose 5% year over year.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at UBS Group from $86.00 to $81.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. UBS Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.24% from the company's current price.

WLK has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, October 26th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $74.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $67.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $80.80.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK opened at $66.27 on Thursday. Westlake has a 52-week low of $56.33 and a 52-week high of $124.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a PE ratio of -19.10 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.38. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $67.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.28.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.94 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 3.91% and a positive return on equity of 1.99%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.29) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total value of $3,120,724.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares in the company, valued at $51,610,406.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 133.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the second quarter worth $69,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 219.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Westlake in the second quarter valued at about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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