Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $125.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Westlake traded as high as $121.73 and last traded at $122.3420, with a volume of 45849 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $119.53.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WLK. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $129.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total transaction of $1,756,916.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at $4,484,178.36. This trade represents a 28.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 180.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $104.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.55 and a beta of 0.75.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Westlake Corporation will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently -18.12%.

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.