Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $168.00 to $166.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price points to a potential upside of 48.15% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WLK. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.21.

Westlake Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK traded up $2.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $112.05. 129,736 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 588,816. Westlake has a 12 month low of $104.74 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 157.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $114.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.12.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $444,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Westlake by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $180,154,000 after acquiring an additional 9,838 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 732.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $113,865,000 after acquiring an additional 873,888 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $112,711,000 after purchasing an additional 58,093 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.