Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Declares $0.50 Quarterly Dividend

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th.

Westlake has raised its dividend payment by an average of 17.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Westlake has a payout ratio of 22.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Westlake to earn $8.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.8%.

Westlake Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of WLK stock traded down $1.81 on Monday, hitting $156.34. The stock had a trading volume of 260,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,267. The firm has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.56, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.30. Westlake has a twelve month low of $103.28 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.25. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.05 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $151.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total transaction of $753,340.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,141,779.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total value of $753,340.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,141,779.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.50, for a total transaction of $560,371.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,055,308. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,608 shares of company stock worth $2,676,565. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

About Westlake

Westlake Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Brazil, France, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Performance and Essential Materials and Housing and Infrastructure Products.