Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Stock Price Target Cut by UBS Group

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) had its price target dropped by analysts at UBS Group from $86.00 to $81.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. UBS Group‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 27.38% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 16th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Westlake in a research report on Friday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $95.00 to $74.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Westlake Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE:WLK traded down $2.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $63.59. The company had a trading volume of 767,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 927,636. 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 has a 12 month low of $56.33 and a 12 month high of $124.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.18. The stock has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.33 and a beta of 0.66.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.04). Westlake had a negative net margin of 10.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.93%. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.29) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Westlake will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total value of $3,120,724.44. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 642,880 shares in the company, valued at $51,610,406.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Westlake in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake by 133.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the second quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 219.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake in the second quarter worth $80,000. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation is a global manufacturer of performance and essential materials, as well as products used in housing and infrastructure. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the company serves customers in construction, packaging, healthcare, consumer products, automotive, and other industrial markets.

Westlake’s materials portfolio includes chlor-alkali and derivative chemicals, polyethylene, PVC, vinyl intermediates, epoxy resins, and other specialty products. These materials are used in applications such as water treatment, coatings, adhesives, plastics, medical products, and packaging.

Through its housing and infrastructure businesses, Westlake also produces building products including vinyl siding, trim, roofing products, pipe, fittings, and related components.