Westlake (WLK) Competitors

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) and LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, community ranking and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts recommend WLK or LYB?

Westlake currently has a consensus price target of $103.54, indicating a potential upside of 43.43%. LyondellBasell Industries has a consensus price target of $69.75, indicating a potential upside of 25.04%. Given Westlake's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Westlake is more favorable than LyondellBasell Industries.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54
LyondellBasell Industries	2 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14

Does the media prefer WLK or LYB?

In the previous week, Westlake had 8 more articles in the media than LyondellBasell Industries. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Westlake and 15 mentions for LyondellBasell Industries. LyondellBasell Industries' average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat Westlake's score of 0.73 indicating that LyondellBasell Industries is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Westlake	10 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
LyondellBasell Industries	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WLK or LYB?

LyondellBasell Industries received 282 more outperform votes than Westlake when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.91% of users gave LyondellBasell Industries an outperform vote while only 56.70% of users gave Westlake an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Westlake	Outperform Votes 478 56.70%	Underperform Votes 365 43.30%
LyondellBasell Industries	Outperform Votes 760 62.91%	Underperform Votes 448 37.09%

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in WLK or LYB?

28.4% of Westlake shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.2% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Westlake shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of LyondellBasell Industries shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is WLK or LYB more profitable?

LyondellBasell Industries has a net margin of 3.39% compared to Westlake's net margin of 0.81%. LyondellBasell Industries' return on equity of 15.97% beat Westlake's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake	0.81%	6.93%	3.61%
LyondellBasell Industries	3.39%	15.97%	5.74%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, WLK or LYB?

LyondellBasell Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Westlake. LyondellBasell Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westlake, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake	$12.01B	0.77	$479M	$2.98	24.22
LyondellBasell Industries	$39.68B	0.45	$1.37B	$3.24	17.22

Is WLK or LYB a better dividend stock?

Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. LyondellBasell Industries pays an annual dividend of $5.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.6%. Westlake pays out 70.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. LyondellBasell Industries pays out 165.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Westlake has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years and LyondellBasell Industries has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Which has more risk and volatility, WLK or LYB?

Westlake has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, LyondellBasell Industries has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

LyondellBasell Industries beats Westlake on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.