Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target Raised to $90.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $90.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 9.97% from the stock’s current price.

WLK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Westlake from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Westlake from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Westlake from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.77.

Westlake Stock Down 1.8%

Westlake stock opened at $81.84 on Monday. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $68.55 and a fifty-two week high of $153.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.63. The company has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 0.91.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). Westlake had a return on equity of 4.19% and a net margin of 3.23%. The company had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Westlake by 732.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $113,865,000 after purchasing an additional 873,888 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the first quarter worth approximately $72,974,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 366.7% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 901,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $90,150,000 after buying an additional 708,142 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 17.7% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,900,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $390,120,000 after buying an additional 586,178 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Westlake during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,630,000. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.