Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. 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 research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Westlake from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $88.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. Westlake has a 52-week low of $85.31 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $108.44 and a 200-day moving average of $121.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,877,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $444,610,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,933,000 after buying an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Westlake by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $180,154,000 after buying an additional 9,838 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 732.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 993,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $113,865,000 after acquiring an additional 873,888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 983,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $112,711,000 after acquiring an additional 58,093 shares during the period. 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.