Piper Sandler Cuts Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target to $135.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target reduced by Piper Sandler from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.92.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $110.52 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.21. Westlake has a twelve month low of $108.95 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 155.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Westlake by 19.0% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 112,388 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,276,000 after buying an additional 17,916 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake in the second quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in Westlake by 9.4% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 30,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 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.