Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Shares Down 3% Following Analyst Downgrade

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) shares fell 3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $103.00 to $94.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Westlake traded as low as $77.01 and last traded at $77.02. 831,960 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 33% from the average session volume of 624,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.42.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WLK. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.54.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,832,000 after purchasing an additional 5,297 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Westlake by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,242,000 after buying an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,098,000 after acquiring an additional 11,992 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Westlake by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,933,000 after acquiring an additional 574,068 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Trading Down 4.5%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.75. 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 $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 70.47%.

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.