Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.7857.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WLK. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Westlake from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Westlake from $106.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, July 6th.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Westlake by 90.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,869,000 after buying an additional 18,321 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 9.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the first quarter valued at $211,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Westlake by 43.6% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,350 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 18.2% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,788 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Down 0.1%

WLK opened at $75.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.17. The company has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.94 and a beta of 0.62. Westlake has a one year low of $56.33 and a one year high of $124.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $85.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.31) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.69%.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.