Westlake (WLK) and Its Competitors Head to Head Comparison

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) is one of 296 public companies in the “Chemicals” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Westlake to similar companies based on the strength of its dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Westlake and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake	-3.91%	1.99%	0.93%
Westlake Competitors	-54.07%	-0.31%	-1.28%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.4% of Westlake shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.4% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Westlake shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.7% of shares of all “Chemicals” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Westlake and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake	3	8	4	0	2.07
Westlake Competitors	3272	12237	14147	520	2.39

Westlake currently has a consensus price target of $80.40, suggesting a potential upside of 28.25%. As a group, “Chemicals” companies have a potential upside of 6.87%. Given Westlake’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Westlake is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

Westlake pays an annual dividend of $2.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Westlake pays out -61.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Chemicals” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.1% and pay out 103.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Westlake has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Westlake is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Westlake and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake	$11.44 billion	-$1.51 billion	-18.07
Westlake Competitors	$7.96 billion	$229.42 million	20.14

Westlake has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Westlake is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Risk & Volatility

Westlake has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westlake’s peers have a beta of 0.94, suggesting that their average stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Westlake peers beat Westlake on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Westlake Company Profile

Westlake Corporation is a global manufacturer of materials and products used in construction, packaging, consumer goods, and other industries. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company serves customers through operations in North America, Europe, and Asia. Westlake’s Performance and Essential Materials business produces petrochemicals and materials such as polyethylene, styrene, chlor-alkali products, and PVC resins. These materials are used in applications ranging from packaging and household products to water treatment and construction.