Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $90.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.54.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $83.44 on Monday. Westlake has a 12-month low of $68.55 and a 12-month high of $153.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $77.16 and a 200-day moving average of $95.63.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 4.19%. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Westlake by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,886 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 1,840.4% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,921 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 132,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,053,000 after purchasing an additional 37,763 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 107.0% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 565 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 37.9% during the 1st quarter. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd now owns 117,231 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,727,000 after purchasing an additional 32,231 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.