Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Hits New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.03.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on WLK. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Westlake from $118.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.85.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its stake in 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 worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Westlake by 2.4% during the fourth 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 stake 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 valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings 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 worth $345,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $84.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.41. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Westlake's payout ratio is currently 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.