Piper Sandler Raises Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target to $180.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective upped by analysts at Piper Sandler from $160.00 to $180.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential upside of 16.15% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Westlake from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.93.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK stock opened at $154.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.92 billion, a PE ratio of 77.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.30. Westlake has a 12-month low of $103.28 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.95.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total transaction of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,389,052.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total value of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,389,052.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,608 shares of company stock worth $2,676,565. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 512.8% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Westlake by 18.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 37,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,684,000 after buying an additional 5,899 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Westlake by 8.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,213,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Westlake by 10.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 682,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $85,129,000 after buying an additional 63,823 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Westlake by 5.2% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 7,723 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

About Westlake

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.