Piper Sandler Has Lowered Expectations for Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $155.00 to $135.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target points to a potential upside of 18.82% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WLK. Bank of America raised Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup raised shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.92.

Westlake Price Performance

Westlake stock opened at $113.62 on Tuesday. Westlake has a 1 year low of $110.76 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $123.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.64. The company has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 160.03, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 74.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WLK. State Street Corp raised its stake in Westlake by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $180,154,000 after buying an additional 9,838 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 699.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,837,000 after acquiring an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Westlake by 90.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,084,000 after purchasing an additional 183,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP bought a new stake in Westlake during the third quarter valued at $55,542,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.