Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Lowered to $88.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $96.00 to $88.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.98% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $118.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 target price on shares of Westlake and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.62.

Westlake Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WLK traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.98. The company had a trading volume of 3,678,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 663,549. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of 99.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake has a twelve month low of $69.47 and a twelve month high of $160.96. The stock's 50 day moving average is $86.43 and its 200-day moving average is $105.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Westlake by 251.1% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 127.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 427 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.