Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Lowered to $122.00 at Morgan Stanley

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $122.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WLK. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America cut their target price on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.86.

Westlake Stock Up 0.4 %

WLK stock opened at $112.52 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $113.92 and its 200 day moving average is $128.76. The stock has a market cap of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17. Westlake has a 1-year low of $104.74 and a 1-year high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Westlake by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Westlake by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 346,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,505 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 3,182.3% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 219,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,112,000 after purchasing an additional 212,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. 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.