Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $107.92.

Several research analysts have weighed in on WLK shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $103.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 244,497 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $24,457,000 after buying an additional 8,143 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter valued at about $249,000. ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 32.7% during the 1st quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 29,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,961,000 after acquiring an additional 7,300 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 336.0% during the 1st quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $911,000 after acquiring an additional 7,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,295 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Price Performance

Westlake stock opened at $80.05 on Wednesday. Westlake has a 12-month low of $76.97 and a 12-month high of $161.31. The stock has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.75, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $95.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.05. 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 earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 70.47%.

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.