Westlake Chemical (NYSE:WLK) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $109.00 to $125.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 26.05% from the company’s previous close.
A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Westlake Chemical from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Westlake Chemical from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake Chemical from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $97.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Monday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Westlake Chemical from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake Chemical currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $111.92.
WLK stock opened at $99.17 on Monday. Westlake Chemical has a one year low of $74.42 and a one year high of $106.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $97.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 3.39. The company has a market capitalization of $12.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.40.
Westlake Chemical (NYSE:WLK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.73. Westlake Chemical had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Westlake Chemical will post 14.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.
In other Westlake Chemical news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 2,369 shares of Westlake Chemical stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.57, for a total value of $240,619.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,356 shares of company stock valued at $932,178. 73.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLK. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in Westlake Chemical in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Westlake Chemical during the second quarter worth $37,000. Berman Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Westlake Chemical by 92.4% during the third quarter. Berman Capital Advisors LLC now owns 429 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Westlake Chemical in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Westlake Chemical by 43.3% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 662 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.73% of the company’s stock.
Westlake Chemical Company Profile
Westlake Chemical Corp. manufactures and markets petrochemicals, polymers and fabricated building products. It operates through the following segments: Olefins and Vinyls. The Olefins segment manufactures ethylene, polyethylene and styrene and associated co-products at the manufacturing facility in Lake Charles and polyethylene at the Longview facility.