Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded by Bank of America to Neutral

Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $159.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $151.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.92.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK opened at $142.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $144.14 and a 200-day moving average of $148.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.34, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.17. Westlake has a 12-month low of $112.77 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The business had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Westlake will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake by 30.2% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the first quarter valued at about $420,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd grew its position in shares of Westlake by 2.6% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 3,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the first quarter valued at about $1,273,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of Westlake by 2.3% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during 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.