Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Barclays currently has $180.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $162.00.

WLK has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho began coverage on Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an outperform rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Westlake from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $174.00 in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $167.50.

Westlake Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE WLK opened at $146.64 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $18.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.17. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $112.77 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.61.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Westlake will post 7.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the second quarter valued at $66,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 66.7% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth about $101,000. 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.