Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective raised by analysts at Mizuho from $88.00 to $97.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 3.24% from the stock’s current price.

WLK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on Westlake and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $83.00 target price (down from $91.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target (down from $93.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.80.

Westlake Price Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $100.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.57, a PEG ratio of 51.89 and a beta of 0.91. Westlake has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $114.75.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. Westlake had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a negative return on equity of 1.22%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In related news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total value of $3,004,304.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Westlake by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 213,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,761,000 after acquiring an additional 78,458 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 17,689 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth about $1,457,000. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new position in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at about $665,000. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its stake in Westlake by 158.2% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 12,946 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 7,933 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Westlake

Here are the key news stories impacting Westlake this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $124 and put a Buy rating on WLK, implying roughly a 23.7% upside versus the current price. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: UBS bumped its target to $129 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying ~28.7% upside from the current price. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: BMO Capital kept a Hold rating and $108 target, signaling balanced risk/reward despite cost-saving upside and a stronger Q4 EPS performance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its target to $100 and set an Equal Weight rating (essentially neutral relative to current levels). Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Mizuho lifted its target to $97 and kept a Neutral rating, signaling limited near-term upside per that analyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Westlake reported Q4 results that beat EPS estimates but showed a quarterly loss, a revenue miss, and weaker volumes/pricing — factors that pressure near-term margins and likely explain investor caution. WLK Q4 Earnings Beat, Sales Miss

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.