Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $142.00 to $160.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Westlake traded as high as $157.41 and last traded at $156.64, with a volume of 14778 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $153.48.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Westlake from $139.00 to $134.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their target price on Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $135.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total value of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at $3,055,308. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total transaction of $677,460.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 45,306 shares in the company, valued at $6,389,052.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total value of $560,371.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,658 shares of company stock worth $1,923,225. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 66.8% during the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 119,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $14,883,000 after acquiring an additional 47,799 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Westlake by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,260 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the third quarter worth $790,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 2.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,630,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $577,344,000 after purchasing an additional 96,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Westlake by 18.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 37,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,684,000 after purchasing an additional 5,899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.30.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 3.82%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.05%.

Westlake Company Profile

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.