Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $82.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $110.00 to $82.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WLK. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Westlake from $132.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $103.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.77.

Westlake Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:WLK opened at $78.91 on Tuesday. Westlake has a one year low of $77.23 and a one year high of $161.31. 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 company has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a PE ratio of 111.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.40.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 247.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Westlake by 251.1% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 316 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 127.1% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 427 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. 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.