Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Lifted to Buy at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $174.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $138.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on WLK. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Vertical Research downgraded Westlake from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Westlake from $139.00 to $134.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays upped their price target on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $145.79.

Westlake Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $150.76 on Thursday. 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 $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.38. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $103.28 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.09). Westlake had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 54.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,893,632.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,893,632.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,658 shares of company stock valued at $1,923,225 in the last three months. Insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,049,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Westlake by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 243,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,017,000 after purchasing an additional 10,077 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,102 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Westlake by 236.9% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 9,313 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 6,549 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $118,000. 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.