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

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $104.12 and last traded at $103.00, with a volume of 55094 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $105.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WLK. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.07.

Westlake Trading Down 0.8 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $112.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a PE ratio of 142.50, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Westlake Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.36%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Westlake by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,242,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,822,000 after buying an additional 12,833 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,098,000 after acquiring an additional 11,992 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,837,000 after acquiring an additional 23,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Westlake by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $379,933,000 after acquiring an additional 574,068 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.