Q1 2024 EPS Estimates for Westlake Co. Cut by Analyst (NYSE:WLK)

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for Westlake in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, September 14th. Zacks Research analyst M. Agrawal now anticipates that the specialty chemicals company will earn $2.13 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.17. The consensus estimate for Westlake’s current full-year earnings is $8.78 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Westlake’s Q2 2024 earnings at $2.72 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $9.17 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $3.56 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.42 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $11.60 EPS.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 9.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.60 earnings per share.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WLK. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $127.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.67.

Westlake Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $127.22 on Friday. Westlake has a 12-month low of $81.29 and a 12-month high of $138.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $16.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.76.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PDT Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 9,443 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,465 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $650,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 89.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 227 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 11,879 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 26,313 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,698,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.00, for a total transaction of $131,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,329,388. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.357 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation manufactures and markets performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The Performance and Essential Materials segment offers polyethylene, styrene monomer, ethylene co-products, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride monomer, ethylene dichloride chlor-alkali, chlorinated derivative products, and epoxy resins.