Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $145.79.

WLK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th.

Westlake Stock Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $149.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $147.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 40.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.30. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $103.28 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 3.82%. The business’s revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 54.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,893,632.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,893,632.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,658 shares of company stock valued at $1,923,225 in the last ninety days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Westlake by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 64,811 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,071,000 after buying an additional 10,687 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter worth $8,492,000. Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 66.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 119,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,883,000 after purchasing an additional 47,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,260 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.