Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Receives "Equal Weight" Rating from Wells Fargo & Company

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $76.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company's stock, down from their previous target price of $95.00. Wells Fargo & Company's target price suggests a potential upside of 6.09% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $132.00 to $117.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $103.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $103.54.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.64. The stock had a trading volume of 979,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,146. The company has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake has a 12-month low of $70.28 and a 12-month high of $161.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $89.42 and a 200-day moving average of $107.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same period 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Westlake by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake by 33.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.