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

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $101.00.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Westlake from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Westlake from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th.

Westlake Stock Up 0.0%

WLK stock opened at $74.78 on Monday. Westlake has a 52 week low of $56.33 and a 52 week high of $124.23. The company has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.89 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The company’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.31) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Westlake will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 4,386,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $324,348,000 after purchasing an additional 472,224 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Westlake by 7,239.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,220,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $312,080,000 after buying an additional 4,163,207 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,917,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $289,647,000 after buying an additional 477,698 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Westlake in the fourth quarter worth approximately $160,548,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Westlake by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,885,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $139,431,000 after buying an additional 585,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.