Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $125.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Westlake traded as high as $121.73 and last traded at $122.3420, with a volume of 45849 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $119.53.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on WLK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Westlake from $97.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $129.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total transaction of $1,756,916.28. Following the transaction, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 219.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 50,715 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 17,689 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 213,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,761,000 after acquiring an additional 78,458 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,457,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $665,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Stock Up 2.2%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $103.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.45 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently -18.12%.

Westlake Company Profile

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.