Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Rating Raised to “Strong Sell” at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks reports.

WLK has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $67.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Westlake from $106.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Westlake from $95.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Westlake from $104.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group set a $86.00 target price on Westlake and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.87.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $62.28 on Monday. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $124.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.50 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $71.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.36.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Westlake had a negative net margin of 10.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.93%. The company’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.11) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Westlake will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a $0.5330 dividend. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -22.23%.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total value of $3,120,724.44. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,117,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at $19,544,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at $16,952,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,700,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation (NYSE: WLK) is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials used in construction, infrastructure, packaging, healthcare, automotive, and consumer products. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company operates through businesses focused on producing chemical building blocks, polymers, and specialty materials.

Its product portfolio includes polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlor-alkali products such as caustic soda and chlorine, polyethylene, epoxy and specialty resins, and other performance chemicals.