Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $80.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Westlake from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $119.64.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $104.53 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.31 billion, a PE ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.24. Westlake has a 1 year low of $81.29 and a 1 year high of $141.19.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 14.23% and a return on equity of 22.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.98 EPS. Analysts predict that Westlake will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st were issued a $0.357 dividend. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 28th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC bought a new stake in Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Gyon Technologies Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 26.79% of the company’s stock.

About Westlake

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Westlake Corp. Is a global diversified industrial company, which engages in the manufacturing and supplying of essential products. It operates through the Performance and Essential Materials, and Housing and Infrastructure Products segments. The Performance and Essential Materials segment includes Westlake North American Vinyls, Westlake North American Chlor-alkali and Derivatives, Westlake European and Asian Chlorovinyls, Westlake Olefins, Westlake Polyethylene, and Westlake Epoxy.