Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Coverage Initiated at KeyCorp

Analysts at KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Westlake (NYSE:WLK) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $92.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 28.60% from the company’s current price. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Westlake’s Q3 2026 earnings at $1.09 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.56 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $2.55 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $2.70 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Westlake from $110.00 to $89.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Westlake in a research note on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $85.00 target price on Westlake in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (up from $89.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.79.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $71.54 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.39. The firm has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a PE ratio of -7.47 and a beta of 0.63. Westlake has a 12-month low of $56.33 and a 12-month high of $124.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.11) earnings per share. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Westlake will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $3,120,724.44. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,610,406.40. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Westlake during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 37.4% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Company Profile

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.