Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Lowered to $92.00 at Truist Financial

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Free Report) had its target price decreased by Truist Financial from $117.00 to $92.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Westlake from $118.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.85.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of Westlake stock traded up $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.56. 1,175,000 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 669,391. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 100.79, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $85.80 and a 200 day moving average of $104.86. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $68.61 and a fifty-two week high of $160.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Westlake's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $390,120,000 after buying an additional 586,178 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $444,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,041,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $104,150,000 after purchasing an additional 102,268 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 732.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $113,865,000 after purchasing an additional 873,888 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $112,711,000 after buying an additional 58,093 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

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.