Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Cut to $160.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $180.00 to $160.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WLK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.92.

Westlake Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $137.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $140.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.30. Westlake has a twelve month low of $118.64 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.93, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Westlake in the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the second quarter worth about $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Westlake by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 200 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.