Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Upgraded at Citigroup

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) was upgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $140.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $152.00. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.11% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WLK. Barclays upgraded Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of 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, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.83.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $117.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. Westlake has a 1 year low of $116.66 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.75. The firm has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 165.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total transaction of $225,890.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Westlake by 43.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 8,400.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth $62,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Westlake in the third quarter valued at about $75,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.