Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $118.50 and last traded at $118.95, with a volume of 9466 shares. The stock had previously closed at $120.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on WLK shares. Bank of America upgraded Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.17.

Westlake Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 169.24, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 295.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,239,420. The trade was a 15.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

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

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.