Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Westlake, with 10 holds, two sells, three buys and one strong buy among 16 brokerages. The average 12-month price target is $97.64, above the reported share price of $71.71.
• Westlake’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations: the company reported an adjusted loss of $0.77 per share versus a $0.10 loss estimate, while revenue declined 6.8% year over year to $2.65 billion.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share, or $2.12 annualized, representing a 3.0% yield. Institutional investors own 28.4% of Westlake’s outstanding shares.

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the sixteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.6429.

Several brokerages have issued reports on WLK. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Westlake by 90.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,869,000 after purchasing an additional 18,321 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 9.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the first quarter worth about $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 18.2% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $71.71 on Friday. Westlake has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $124.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.65 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.81 and a 200-day moving average of $94.39.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.31) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -16.69%.

About Westlake

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company's core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.

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