Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $75.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $116.00.

WLK has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price (down from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.23.

Westlake Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $91.86 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $103.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.51. Westlake has a twelve month low of $81.41 and a twelve month high of $161.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.37, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 247.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Westlake by 1,668.2% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Westlake by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 33.9% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.