Barclays Upgrades Westlake (NYSE:WLK) to “Strong Sell”

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

WLK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho set a $72.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Westlake from $89.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on Westlake in a research note on Friday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.87.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK opened at $62.28 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.50 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.36. Westlake has a 52-week low of $56.33 and a 52-week high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 10.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.93%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.11) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other Westlake news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $3,120,724.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,610,406.40. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the second quarter worth $240,474,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $21,388,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake in the second quarter valued at $19,544,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Westlake by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 236,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,685,000 after purchasing an additional 52,551 shares during the period. Finally, Robotti Robert acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth about $17,183,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation (NYSE: WLK) is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials used in construction, infrastructure, packaging, healthcare, automotive, and consumer products. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company operates through businesses focused on producing chemical building blocks, polymers, and specialty materials.

Its product portfolio includes polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlor-alkali products such as caustic soda and chlorine, polyethylene, epoxy and specialty resins, and other performance chemicals.