Citigroup Cuts Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target to $116.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target trimmed by Citigroup from $130.00 to $116.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WLK. UBS Group upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Westlake from $147.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $88.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $108.44 and its 200 day moving average is $121.40. 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 has a 52 week low of $85.31 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a PE ratio of 124.71, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 45.36%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 247.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 72.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.