Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Coverage Initiated at Truist Financial

Investment analysts at Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price target suggests a potential upside of 42.94% from the stock’s current price.

WLK has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America raised Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.79.

Westlake Trading Down 0.1 %

Westlake stock opened at $117.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 165.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a 1 year low of $108.95 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $119.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,534 shares in the company, valued at $1,239,420. The trade was a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 74.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Westlake by 247.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 43.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. 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.