Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK – Get Rating)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $115.00 to $100.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Westlake traded as low as $84.65 and last traded at $85.75, with a volume of 800216 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.56.
Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Westlake from $114.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Monday, August 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Westlake from $120.00 to $112.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Westlake from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Westlake from $117.00 to $92.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.79.
Insider Activity at Westlake
In related news, CAO Johnathan Stevan Zoeller sold 542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.08, for a total transaction of $58,037.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,144.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 73.70% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,303 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,138,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. abrdn plc acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at $220,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 297,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,919,000 after buying an additional 8,545 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 181,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,581,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.72% of the company’s stock.
Westlake Stock Down 0.9 %
The business has a 50-day moving average price of $97.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.87. The company has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.
Westlake Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 22nd were given a dividend of $0.357 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 19th. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 6.47%.
Westlake Company Profile
Westlake Corporation manufactures and supplies petrochemicals, polymers, and building products worldwide. It operates through two segments, Performance and Essential Materials; and Housing and Infrastructure Products. The Performance and Essential Materials segment manufactures and markets polyethylene, styrene monomer, ethylene co-products, PVC, VCM, ethylene dichloride chlor-alkali, and chlorinated derivative products.