Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Raised to $124.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $100.00 to $124.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on WLK. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $88.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on shares of Westlake and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.80.

Westlake Stock Up 5.2%

WLK stock opened at $105.59 on Thursday. Westlake has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $114.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 45.50 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.82.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. Westlake had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a negative return on equity of 1.22%. The business had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -18.12%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total value of $3,004,304.52. Following the sale, the chairman owned 627,722 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Westlake during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 71.3% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 54.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Westlake

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.