Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was upgraded by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $90.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 1.44% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on WLK. UBS Group set a $130.00 target price on Westlake and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $115.00 target price on Westlake and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Westlake from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.43.

Westlake Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $88.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.99 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Westlake has a 52-week low of $56.33 and a 52-week high of $124.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $110.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $90.13.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.79 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 14.91% and a negative return on equity of 1.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.31) EPS. Research analysts predict that Westlake will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

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 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,484,178.36. This represents a 28.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 180.3% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.