Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Key Points

• Citigroup raised Westlake’s price target from $67 to $70 but maintained a neutral rating, implying about 10% upside from the share price cited in the report.
• Analyst sentiment overall remains cautious: Westlake has an average “Hold” rating and an average price target of $81, with 4 Buy, 8 Hold, and 3 Sell recommendations.
• Westlake’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.45 missed the $0.49 consensus estimate, though revenue of $2.98 billion topped estimates and rose 5% year over year.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Citigroup from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Citigroup's target price would suggest a potential upside of 10.08% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on WLK. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on Westlake in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Westlake from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Westlake in a report on Friday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $92.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Westlake from $95.00 to $74.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $81.00.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK traded down $2.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $63.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 767,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,137,864. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.28. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $124.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.33 and a beta of 0.66.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.29) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Westlake will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were 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 owned 642,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at about $240,474,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Westlake by 54.4% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 352,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $21,961,000 after buying an additional 124,129 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Westlake in the second quarter worth approximately $19,544,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Westlake by 28.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 236,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,685,000 after acquiring an additional 52,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robotti Robert bought a new position in Westlake during the second quarter valued at approximately $17,183,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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