Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Given New $98.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $98.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $125.00 to $103.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.69.

Westlake Trading Down 4.5%

NYSE:WLK opened at $82.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a market cap of $10.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake has a 52 week low of $76.97 and a 52 week high of $161.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $93.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.36.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 70.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 557,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,832,000 after buying an additional 5,297 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,242,000 after buying an additional 4,088 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,098,000 after acquiring an additional 11,992 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 21.0% in 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 during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.