Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Westlake, with 10 hold, four buy and one sell ratings among 15 analysts. The average 12-month price target is $93.79, above the stock’s reported $69.13 price.
• Westlake exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $2.01 versus the $1.83 consensus and revenue of $3.27 billion, up 10.8% year over year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.533 per share, implying an annualized dividend of $2.13 and a 3.1% yield; meanwhile, Chairman Albert Chao sold shares worth about $3.12 million.

Shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $93.7857.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WLK shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $88.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (up from $89.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Westlake from $106.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 target price on Westlake in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, July 17th.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $69.13 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $75.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.15. The stock has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of -7.22 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Westlake has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.18. Westlake had a negative net margin of 10.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.93%. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.11) EPS. Westlake's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Westlake will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a $0.533 dividend. This represents a $2.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. This is a positive change from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westlake news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $3,120,724.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,610,406.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $240,474,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at $160,548,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,670,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $123,505,000 after purchasing an additional 121,633 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 536,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $39,653,000 after purchasing an additional 94,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 420,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $31,055,000 after purchasing an additional 160,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company produces chemicals, polymers and building products used in construction, infrastructure, packaging, healthcare, consumer goods and other industrial applications.

Its Performance and Essential Materials businesses manufacture products such as chlor-alkali chemicals, vinyl chloride monomer, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene, epoxy resins and related specialty materials.

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