Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Sets New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $100.00 to $82.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Westlake traded as low as $68.85 and last traded at $69.09, with a volume of 360440 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.03.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Westlake from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $89.85.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Westlake by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $63,832,000 after purchasing an additional 5,297 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,242,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $27,098,000 after buying an additional 11,992 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 122.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 193,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $22,137,000 after purchasing an additional 106,329 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 107,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,312,000 after buying an additional 3,588 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Westlake Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $84.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.03. 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 announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Westlake's revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. 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.