StockNews.com Downgrades Westlake (NYSE:WLK) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning.

WLK has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Vertical Research downgraded Westlake from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $154.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $153.15.

Westlake Price Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $150.32 on Friday. Westlake has a 1 year low of $112.77 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.20.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.25. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.05 earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total transaction of $753,340.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,141,779.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Westlake by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,311,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $183,605,000 after buying an additional 675,725 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at $50,961,000. Appian Way Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the 1st quarter valued at $25,154,000. Natixis increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 41,979.2% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 85,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,988,000 after purchasing an additional 84,798 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Westlake by 460.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 85,008 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,898,000 after buying an additional 69,838 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.