Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.00.

Westlake Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $102.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a 12-month low of $99.18 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,242,000 after acquiring an additional 4,088 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,098,000 after purchasing an additional 11,992 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,822,000 after purchasing an additional 12,833 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,837,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.