Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $90.54.

Several brokerages have recently commented on WLK. Bank of America reduced their target price on Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Westlake from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted 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 worth $113,865,000 after buying an additional 873,888 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter worth approximately $72,974,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 366.7% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 901,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $90,150,000 after buying an additional 708,142 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,630,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Trading Up 1.6%

Westlake stock traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $76.14. 874,160 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 720,464. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $79.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.96. Westlake has a twelve month low of $68.55 and a twelve month high of $153.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a PE ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.91.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a return on equity of 4.19% and a net margin of 3.23%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Westlake's payout ratio is 70.47%.

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.