Financial Survey: Wacker Chemie (OTCMKTS:WKCMF) versus Westlake (NYSE:WLK)

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) and Wacker Chemie (OTCMKTS:WKCMF) are both materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Westlake and Wacker Chemie’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake	-10.94%	0.93%	0.44%
Wacker Chemie	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.4% of Westlake shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Westlake shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Westlake and Wacker Chemie, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake	1	11	3	0	2.13
Wacker Chemie	2	3	0	0	1.60

Westlake currently has a consensus price target of $93.92, suggesting a potential upside of 23.79%. Given Westlake’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Westlake is more favorable than Wacker Chemie.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Westlake and Wacker Chemie”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake	$11.17 billion	0.87	-$1.51 billion	($9.58)	-7.92
Wacker Chemie	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Wacker Chemie has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Westlake.

Summary

Westlake beats Wacker Chemie on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Performance and Essential Materials segment offers ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, chlorinated derivative products, ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride monomer, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), epoxy specialty resins, and base epoxy resins and intermediaries, as well as chlor-alkali, such as chlorine and caustic soda. The Housing and Infrastructure Products segment provides residential PVC sidings; PVC trim and mouldings; architectural stone veneers; windows; PVC decking; PVC films for various inflatables, wallcovering, and tape and roofing applications; polymer composite and cement roof tiles; PVC pipes and fittings for various water, sewer, electrical, and industrial applications; PVC compounds used in various housing, medical, and automobile products; and consumer and commercial products, such as landscape edging; industrial, home, and office matting; marine dock edging; and masonry joint controls. It offers its products to chemical processors, plastics fabricators, small construction contractors, municipalities, and supply warehouses for use in various consumer and industrial markets, including residential construction, flexible and rigid packaging, automotive products, healthcare products, water treatment, wind turbines, and coatings, as well as other durable and non-durable goods. The company was formerly known as Westlake Chemical Corporation and changed its name to Westlake Corporation in February 2022. Westlake Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Westlake Corporation operates as a subsidiary of TTWF LP.

About Wacker Chemie

Wacker Chemie AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides chemical products worldwide. It operates through four divisions: Wacker Silicones, Wacker Polymers, Wacker Biosolutions, and Wacker Polysilicon. The Wacker Silicones division offers silanes, siloxanes, silicone fluids, silicone emulsions, silicone elastomers, silicone resins, and pyrogenic silica. The Wacker Polymers division provides binders and polymeric additives, such as dispersible polymer powder and vinyl acetate-ethylene dispersions, which are used in construction, paper, adhesive, paint, coating, and basic chemical industries. The Wacker Biosolutions division offers customized biotech and catalog products for fine chemicals, such as pharmaceutical proteins, vaccines, cyclodextrins, cysteine, polyvinyl acetate solid resins, and acetylacetone for pharmaceutical actives, food additives, and agrochemicals. The Wacker Polysilicon division produces hyperpure polysilicon for use in semiconductor and solar sectors. Wacker Chemie AG was founded in 1914 and is headquartered in Munich, Germany. Wacker Chemie AG operates as a subsidiary of Dr. Alexander Wacker Familiengesellschaft mbH.