Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded by Bank of America to Neutral

Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $159.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $151.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho started coverage on Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.92.

Westlake Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:WLK opened at $142.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a PE ratio of 68.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $144.14 and a 200-day moving average of $148.44. Westlake has a 52 week low of $112.77 and a 52 week high of $162.64. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Westlake will post 7.18 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 3,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,554 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 40,228 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,147,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,518 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by 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.