Westlake (NYSE:WLK) PT Raised to $168.00 at Citigroup

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective upped by Citigroup from $162.00 to $168.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WLK. StockNews.com downgraded Westlake from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Vertical Research lowered shares of Westlake from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $154.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Westlake from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $152.00.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK stock opened at $150.37 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $154.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.60. The firm has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Westlake has a 12 month low of $107.34 and a 12 month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.25. Westlake had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 7.69%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 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 shares were 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 owns 40,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,141,779.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake during the first quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by 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.