Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on WLK. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. UBS Group set a $86.00 price target on Westlake and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Westlake from $89.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.20.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $63.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.64. Westlake has a 1-year low of $56.33 and a 1-year high of $124.23. The company has a market cap of $8.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.60 and a beta of 0.69.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 10.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.11) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a $0.5330 dividend. This represents a $2.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $3,120,724.44. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Westlake by 1.3% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 14.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $178,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 3.0% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 6,868 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 133.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 219.4% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation (NYSE: WLK) is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials used in construction, infrastructure, packaging, healthcare, automotive, and consumer products. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company operates through businesses focused on producing chemical building blocks, polymers, and specialty materials.

Its product portfolio includes polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlor-alkali products such as caustic soda and chlorine, polyethylene, epoxy and specialty resins, and other performance chemicals.