Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Receives "Buy" Rating from Citigroup

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by stock analysts at Citigroup in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $85.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company's stock, down from their previous price objective of $95.00. Citigroup's target price would indicate a potential upside of 20.46% from the company's current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.54.

Westlake Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of WLK opened at $70.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake has a 12-month low of $70.28 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.36.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,822,000 after buying an additional 12,833 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 247.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at about $361,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 27,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,125,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.