By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK – Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $155.79.
WLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Westlake
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. The trade was a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 74.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Trading of Westlake
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Westlake by 6,316.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake by 1,668.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.
Westlake Stock Down 1.5 %
WLK stock opened at $109.68 on Friday. Westlake has a twelve month low of $108.56 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The company has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 154.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.
Westlake Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 295.77%.
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.
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