Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $130.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

WLK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Westlake in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.21.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK opened at $112.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $113.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.88. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $104.74 and a fifty-two week high of $162.64. The firm has a market cap of $14.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 295.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,393 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Westlake by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 5,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Westlake by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 346,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,759,000 after purchasing an additional 28,505 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 3,182.3% during the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 219,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,112,000 after buying an additional 212,357 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.