Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $112.54 and last traded at $112.56, with a volume of 188671 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $114.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WLK. Citigroup upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group dropped 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $159.83.

Westlake Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.54. The firm has a market cap of $14.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its 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). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Westlake Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

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 that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 699.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,445,000 after purchasing an additional 520,669 shares during the last quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in Westlake during the 3rd quarter worth $55,542,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Westlake in the second quarter valued at $27,179,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 90.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,084,000 after acquiring an additional 183,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3,330.4% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 150,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $23,802,000 after purchasing an additional 145,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.