Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded to “Buy” at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $144.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on WLK. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.92.

Westlake Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WLK opened at $110.03 on Friday. Westlake has a 52 week low of $108.95 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.97, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $122.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake by 699.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,445,000 after purchasing an additional 520,669 shares in the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,542,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,179,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 90.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,084,000 after acquiring an additional 183,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 3,330.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 150,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $23,802,000 after acquiring an additional 145,673 shares during the last quarter. 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.