Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.4667.

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price (up previously from $75.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, November 17th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price (down previously from $93.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st.

Westlake Stock Up 4.6%

WLK stock opened at $83.19 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a PE ratio of -11.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.41 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.21. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $119.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 8.34% and a negative return on equity of 0.78%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $3,004,304.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,507.54. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank acquired a new position in Westlake during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 107.0% in 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 during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 54.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 49.9% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 640 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.