BMO Capital Markets Cuts Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Price Target to $165.00

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price trimmed by BMO Capital Markets from $171.00 to $165.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.17.

Westlake Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE WLK opened at $126.66 on Wednesday. Westlake has a 52 week low of $118.64 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $139.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a PE ratio of 178.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.19. 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 (NYSE:WLK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WLK. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 520,669 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth about $55,542,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Westlake during the second quarter worth about $27,179,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 183,666 shares during the period. Finally, Appian Way Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Westlake during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,154,000. 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.