Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective lowered by Bank of America from $90.00 to $84.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 18.07% from the stock’s previous close.

WLK has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $118.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $122.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.54.

Westlake Price Performance

Westlake stock opened at $71.14 on Wednesday. Westlake has a 12-month low of $68.55 and a 12-month high of $153.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.86.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a return on equity of 4.19% and a net margin of 3.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 247.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Westlake by 251.1% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 127.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 427 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.