KeyCorp Comments on Westlake’s FY2026 Earnings (NYSE:WLK)

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) – Analysts at KeyCorp issued their FY2026 earnings estimates for Westlake in a report issued on Thursday, September 10th. KeyCorp analyst S. Tiano expects that the specialty chemicals company will post earnings of $2.90 per share for the year. KeyCorp has a “Overweight” rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Westlake’s current full-year earnings is $3.31 per share.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.18. Westlake had a negative net margin of 10.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.93%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.11) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

WLK has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price (up from $89.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Westlake from $127.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Westlake from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $110.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.79.

Westlake Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $70.02 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.31 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The business’s 50-day moving average is $75.54 and its 200-day moving average is $90.76. Westlake has a 1 year low of $56.33 and a 1 year high of $124.23.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.533 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $2.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently -22.23%.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total value of $3,120,724.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 642,880 shares in the company, valued at $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Westlake in the 2nd quarter worth about $240,474,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Westlake in the 4th quarter valued at about $160,548,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,670,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,505,000 after buying an additional 121,633 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 536,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,653,000 after buying an additional 94,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 435,261 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,183,000 after buying an additional 12,621 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company produces chemicals, polymers and building products used in construction, infrastructure, packaging, healthcare, consumer goods and other industrial applications.

Its Performance and Essential Materials businesses manufacture products such as chlor-alkali chemicals, vinyl chloride monomer, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene, epoxy resins and related specialty materials.