Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has $127.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $108.00.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday, January 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Westlake from $82.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price target on Westlake in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.73.

Westlake Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of WLK opened at $103.15 on Thursday. Westlake has a 52 week low of $56.33 and a 52 week high of $113.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $13.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.82, a PEG ratio of 35.30 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $90.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.53.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.47) by $1.22. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.22% and a negative net margin of 13.50%.Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -18.12%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $1,756,916.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chairman directly owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,507.54. This represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 7,239.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,220,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $312,080,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163,207 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter worth about $160,548,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Westlake during the second quarter worth about $104,314,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in Westlake by 246.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,456,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $110,621,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Westlake by 440.1% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 854,184 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $65,823,000 after acquiring an additional 696,029 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.