Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Stock Now Rated "Hold" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Westlake, with 8 holds, 4 buys and 3 sells; their average 12-month price target is $81.
• Westlake shares were down 4.1% and opened at $63.59. Its latest quarterly EPS of $0.45 missed analysts’ $0.49 estimate, while revenue of $2.98 billion topped estimates and rose 5% year over year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.533 per share, equivalent to an annualized $2.13 and a 3.4% yield.

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.00.

A number of equities analysts have commented on WLK shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Westlake from $86.00 to $81.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Westlake from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Barclays started coverage on Westlake in a report on Monday, October 12th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Westlake from $104.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Westlake from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th.

Westlake Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $63.59 on Friday. 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 has a 1-year low of $56.33 and a 1-year high of $124.23. The company's fifty day moving average is $67.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 2.38.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). Westlake had a negative net margin of 3.91% and a positive return on equity of 1.99%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.29) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a $0.5330 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. This is a positive change from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -61.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman owned 642,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,610,406.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the third quarter valued at approximately $615,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. bought a new position in Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $349,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $277,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Westlake by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 352,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $21,961,000 after acquiring an additional 124,129 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Company Profile

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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