Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised Westlake from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the company from $157.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an outperform rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK stock opened at $144.28 on Thursday. Westlake has a one year low of $112.77 and a one year high of $162.64. The company has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $143.50 and a 200-day moving average of $148.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 105.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake in the 1st quarter worth $1,273,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Westlake during the first quarter valued at $3,254,000. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Westlake by 17.9% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 24,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,742,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $544,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Westlake during the first quarter valued at $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.