Westlake - WLK Stock Forecast, Price & News

Westlake Corporation manufactures and supplies petrochemicals, polymers, and building products worldwide. It operates through two segments, Performance and Essential Materials; and Housing and Infrastructure Products. The Performance and Essential Materials segment manufactures and markets polyethylene, styrene monomer, ethylene co-products, PVC, VCM, ethylene dichloride chlor-alkali, and chlorinated derivative products. The Housing and Infrastructure Products segment manufactures and sells residential PVC siding; PVC trim and moldings; roofing applications; decorative stone; windows; PVC decking; PVC films for various inflatables, wallcovering, tape, and roofing applications; polymer composite roof tiles; PVC pipe and fittings; PVC compounds; and various consumer and commercial products such as landscape edging; industrial, home and office matting; marine dock edging; and masonry joint controls. The company offers its products to a range of customers, including chemical processors, plastics fabricators, small construction contractors, municipalities, and supply warehouses for use in various consumer and industrial markets, including residential construction, flexible and rigid packaging, automotive products, healthcare products, water treatment, and coatings, as well as other durable and non-durable goods. The company was formerly known as Westlake Chemical Corporation and changed its name to Westlake Corporation in February 2022. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Westlake Corporation is a subsidiary of TTWF LP.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WLK. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Westlake from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, June 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Westlake from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $129.75.

Westlake Trading Up 0.5 %

WLK traded up $0.52 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $96.70. 983,847 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 765,319. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a PE ratio of 4.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50-day moving average is $102.46 and its 200 day moving average is $112.97. Westlake has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $141.19.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.2975 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 20th. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, CEO Albert Chao sold 37,876 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.38, for a total transaction of $4,938,272.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 472,983 shares in the company, valued at $61,667,523.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Roger L. Kearns sold 8,388 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.24, for a total transaction of $1,142,781.12. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,389 shares in the company, valued at $3,595,237.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Albert Chao sold 37,876 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.38, for a total transaction of $4,938,272.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 472,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,667,523.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,691 shares of company stock valued at $7,948,918. 73.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.