BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $125.00 to $103.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market perform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential upside of 30.97% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Westlake from $132.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.42.

Westlake Price Performance

NYSE WLK traded up $0.43 on Tuesday, hitting $78.65. 115,154 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 749,785. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $97.72 and a 200-day moving average of $112.64. The stock has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake has a 52 week low of $77.23 and a 52 week high of $161.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Westlake by 2.4% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 40,613 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,104,000 after buying an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 13,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,522,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $307,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Westlake by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 79,178 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,078,000 after purchasing an additional 5,512 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Westlake

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.