Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price Down 5.1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Westlake shares fell 5.1% to about $63.43, with trading volume 53% below the average session volume. The stock remains well below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts have recently lowered price targets, resulting in an overall “Hold” rating and an average target of $92.43; the consensus includes four Buy, ten Hold and one Sell rating.
• Despite a challenging outlook, Westlake exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $2.01 in EPS and $3.27 billion in revenue, while increasing its quarterly dividend to $0.533 per share, representing a 3.4% yield.

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) was down 5.1% on Tuesday. The stock traded as low as $63.42 and last traded at $63.4330. 531,518 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 1,142,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Westlake from $127.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Westlake from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $106.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.43.

Westlake Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.60 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.13 and a 200-day moving average of $88.47.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.11) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Corporation will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a $0.5330 dividend. This is a positive change from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $2.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently -22.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $3,120,724.44. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,610,406.40. This trade represents 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 this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth $240,474,000. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth $160,548,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Westlake by 7.9% during 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 buying an additional 121,633 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 536,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $39,653,000 after buying an additional 94,950 shares during the period. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 420,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $31,055,000 after buying an additional 160,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.