Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $167.50.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Westlake from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $174.00 in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 8,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $66,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Westlake by 66.7% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter worth approximately $101,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:WLK opened at $150.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a one year low of $112.77 and a one year high of $162.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.61.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake will post 7.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 20th. This is a boost from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Westlake’s payout ratio is 105.53%.

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.