Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Rating Increased to Buy at UBS Group

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was upgraded by analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $144.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 30.29% from the company’s previous close.

WLK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.92.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $110.52 on Friday. 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 market cap of $14.22 billion, a PE ratio of 155.66, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $123.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.21. Westlake has a twelve month low of $108.95 and a twelve month high of $162.64.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,239,420. This trade represents a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Westlake by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.