StockNews.com Downgrades Westlake (NYSE:WLK) to Sell

Posted by on Mar 17th, 2023

Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Rating) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Westlake from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $128.00 in a report on Monday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.64.

Westlake Price Performance

NYSE WLK opened at $107.15 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Westlake has a 12-month low of $81.29 and a 12-month high of $141.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.24.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.45). Westlake had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 14.23%. The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.98 earnings per share. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Westlake will post 10.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Westlake by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,239,670 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $332,196,000 after acquiring an additional 221,020 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 72.2% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,978,839 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $291,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248,590 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 7.3% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,221,783 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $193,029,000 after purchasing an additional 150,636 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,012,486 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $103,820,000 after purchasing an additional 342,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 960,738 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $98,516,000 after purchasing an additional 138,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.79% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Company Profile

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Westlake Corp. Is a global diversified industrial company, which engages in the manufacturing and supplying of essential products. It operates through the Performance and Essential Materials, and Housing and Infrastructure Products segments. The Performance and Essential Materials segment includes Westlake North American Vinyls, Westlake North American Chlor-alkali and Derivatives, Westlake European and Asian Chlorovinyls, Westlake Olefins, Westlake Polyethylene, and Westlake Epoxy.

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