Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Cut to Neutral at Mizuho

Mizuho downgraded shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $88.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

WLK has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $80.00 price target on Westlake in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Alembic Global Advisors set a $80.00 price target on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $84.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $78.00 price target on Westlake and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.47.

Westlake Trading Up 1.1%

Westlake stock opened at $100.22 on Monday. Westlake has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $118.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $12.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.51, a P/E/G ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.22.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 25th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 25th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 40,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $3,004,304.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 627,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,181,507.54. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 90.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,869,000 after purchasing an additional 18,321 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 9.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,881,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Westlake in the first quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 17.7% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,697 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 21.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,045 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.