Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $110.00 to $125.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.91% from the stock’s previous close.

WLK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research raised Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Westlake from $129.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.53.

Westlake Stock Performance

WLK stock traded down $2.48 during trading on Monday, reaching $116.92. 186,741 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,375,904. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.08. 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.98 and a beta of 0.75. Westlake has a twelve month low of $56.33 and a twelve month high of $120.00.

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

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total transaction of $1,756,916.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,484,178.36. This 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 accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $160,548,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 440.1% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 854,184 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $65,823,000 after purchasing an additional 696,029 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Westlake by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,885,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $139,431,000 after purchasing an additional 585,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,917,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $289,647,000 after buying an additional 477,698 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.