Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded by Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. to Buy Rating

Key Points

• Westlake's stock rating has been upgraded from "hold" to "buy" by Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. with a target price of $90.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.68%.
• Currently, Westlake has received mixed ratings from analysts: while one analyst has rated it a sell, six have rated it hold and eight have given it a buy rating.
• Shares of Westlake traded down $1.02 to $82.06 during recent trading, with a market cap of $10.52 billion and a fifty-two week high of $153.34.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $90.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.'s price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.54% from the company's current price.

WLK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Westlake from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Westlake from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $101.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.93.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK stock traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.42. The stock had a trading volume of 100,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,014,936. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.74. The stock has a market cap of $10.44 billion, a PE ratio of -153.10, a P/E/G ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 0.92. Westlake has a 52-week low of $68.55 and a 52-week high of $153.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.15). Westlake had a positive return on equity of 1.26% and a negative net margin of 0.57%. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 17.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $390,120,000 after buying an additional 586,178 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,041,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $104,150,000 after acquiring an additional 102,268 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 732.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $113,865,000 after buying an additional 873,888 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $112,711,000 after acquiring an additional 58,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $107,092,000 after acquiring an additional 43,544 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

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.