Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Hits New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $135.00 to $100.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Westlake traded as low as $78.18 and last traded at $78.37, with a volume of 1848761 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.85.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Westlake from $132.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.08.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 17.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $390,120,000 after buying an additional 586,178 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $444,610,000 after acquiring an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 732.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $113,865,000 after purchasing an additional 873,888 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $112,711,000 after purchasing an additional 58,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Westlake by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $107,092,000 after purchasing an additional 43,544 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $97.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.37, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 70.47%.

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.