Truist Financial Cuts Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target to $155.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from $166.00 to $155.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target points to a potential upside of 56.42% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler cut Westlake from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $135.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.21.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK traded down $3.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $99.09. The company had a trading volume of 281,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 540,534. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. Westlake has a 12 month low of $99.04 and a 12 month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Westlake by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Westlake by 11.0% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,024 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Westlake in the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Westlake by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 49,085 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,377,000 after acquiring an additional 6,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 17,281 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,597,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.