Westlake’s (WLK) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America reissued their neutral rating on shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has a $119.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

WLK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Westlake from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Westlake from $129.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.53.

Westlake Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of WLK stock opened at $120.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.86. The company has a market capitalization of $15.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.32 and a beta of 0.75. Westlake has a twelve month low of $56.33 and a twelve month high of $124.23.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. Westlake’s revenue was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is -18.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,484,178.36. This represents a 28.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Westlake during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Westlake during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Westlake by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 562 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Westlake in the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 180.3% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Company Profile

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.