Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Raised to $130.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price boosted by Citigroup from $124.00 to $130.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Westlake from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Westlake from $92.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.80.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $112.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.58 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.34. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $116.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. Westlake had a negative net margin of 13.50% and a negative return on equity of 1.22%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.9% 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 fiscal year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -18.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $3,004,304.52. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,507.54. The trade was a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 17,409 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.92, for a total value of $1,756,916.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,433 shares in the company, valued at $4,484,178.36. The trade was a 28.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 4,386,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $324,348,000 after acquiring an additional 472,224 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 7,239.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,220,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $312,080,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,207 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,917,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $289,647,000 after purchasing an additional 477,698 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at about $160,548,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Westlake by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,885,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $139,431,000 after purchasing an additional 585,438 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Westlake

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.