Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Reaches New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $155.00 to $135.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Westlake traded as low as $108.95 and last traded at $109.83, with a volume of 17966 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $111.68.

WLK has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America raised Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.92.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,004,758.72. This 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 at this link. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Westlake by 19.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 112,388 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,276,000 after purchasing an additional 17,916 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $101,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the second quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position 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 valued at $4,444,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 155.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $123.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.39.

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). The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

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

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.