UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target lowered by UBS Group from $160.00 to $144.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on WLK. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.92.

Westlake Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $137.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 65.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $140.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.30. Westlake has a 1-year low of $118.64 and a 1-year high of $162.64.

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 company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.20 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Westlake will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 100.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Westlake by 2.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 8.3% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in Westlake by 1.0% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,037 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,284,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP raised its holdings in Westlake by 214.2% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 14,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 9,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Westlake during the first quarter worth approximately $3,254,000. Hedge funds and other 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.