Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Rating Lowered by Piper Sandler

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was downgraded by Piper Sandler from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $120.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $135.00. Piper Sandler’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.15% from the company’s previous close.

WLK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.00.

Westlake Price Performance

Westlake stock opened at $100.71 on Wednesday. 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 has a 52 week low of $99.18 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 141.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $111.54 and a 200-day moving average of $123.68.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 42,934 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,922,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth approximately $300,000. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in shares of Westlake by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 346,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $39,759,000 after acquiring an additional 28,505 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.