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

Shares of Westlake Corp. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $90.54.

WLK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 33.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 29,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,292,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:WLK traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $76.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,418,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 724,927. The company has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.91. Westlake has a one year low of $68.55 and a one year high of $153.34. The business's 50-day moving average is $79.09 and its 200-day moving average is $97.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.86.

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 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.19%. 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. Equities research analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake's payout ratio is presently 70.47%.

Westlake Company Profile

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.