BMO Capital Markets Increases Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target to $94.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $91.00 to $94.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.56% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.93.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $82.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.74. The company has a market cap of $10.52 billion, a PE ratio of -154.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 0.92. Westlake has a 1-year low of $68.55 and a 1-year high of $153.34.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.15). Westlake had a negative net margin of 0.57% and a positive return on equity of 1.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 17.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $390,120,000 after acquiring an additional 586,178 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 10.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,041,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $104,150,000 after buying an additional 102,268 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 732.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $113,865,000 after buying an additional 873,888 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Westlake by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $112,711,000 after purchasing an additional 58,093 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Westlake by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 934,122 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $107,092,000 after buying an additional 43,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.