Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

WLK has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Vertical Research cut Westlake from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $154.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $151.85.

Westlake Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE WLK opened at $149.83 on Wednesday. Westlake has a twelve month low of $107.34 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of 75.29, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.46.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.05 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total value of $753,340.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,141,779.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,311,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $183,605,000 after purchasing an additional 675,725 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,961,000. Appian Way Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Westlake in the first quarter valued at about $25,154,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 56.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 304,429 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,953,000 after buying an additional 109,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,630,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $577,344,000 after buying an additional 96,152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.