Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $90.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial lowered Westlake’s price target from $104 to $90 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying approximately 44% upside from the stock’s $62.48 price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Westlake has an overall “Hold” consensus rating and an average price target of $88.64, with four Buy, ten Hold, and one Sell rating.
• Westlake exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.01 in EPS versus the $1.83 estimate and $3.27 billion in revenue versus the $3.24 billion consensus; however, the company posted a negative net margin of 10.94%.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by analysts at Truist Financial from $104.00 to $90.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Truist Financial's price objective indicates a potential upside of 44.04% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WLK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group set a $98.00 price target on Westlake and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Westlake from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Westlake from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday, September 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $92.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $88.64.

Westlake Trading Down 1.4%

Westlake stock opened at $62.48 on Thursday. Westlake has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $124.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.52 and a beta of 0.63. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $73.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.80.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 10.94%.Westlake's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.11) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Westlake will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Westlake by 219.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth about $80,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 58,450.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,171 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 133.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation NYSE: WLK is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials used in construction, infrastructure, packaging, healthcare, automotive, and consumer products. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company operates through businesses focused on producing chemical building blocks, polymers, and specialty materials.

Its product portfolio includes polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlor-alkali products such as caustic soda and chlorine, polyethylene, epoxy and specialty resins, and other performance chemicals.

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