Mark Steven Bender Sells 4,950 Shares of Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Stock

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) 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 completion of 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 SEC, which is available through this link.

Mark Steven Bender also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 6th, Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of Westlake stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total transaction of $677,460.08.
• On Monday, February 26th, Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of Westlake stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78.

Westlake Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WLK traded up $1.05 on Monday, hitting $153.30. 419,879 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 399,430. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $103.28 and a one year high of $162.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.46. The company has a market capitalization of $19.65 billion, a PE ratio of 77.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.30.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.93 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. Westlake's revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Co. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Westlake by 512.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 2,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 18.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 37,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,684,000 after acquiring an additional 5,899 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Westlake by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Westlake by 10.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 682,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $85,129,000 after buying an additional 63,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Westlake by 5.2% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 7,723 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WLK shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.79.

Westlake Company Profile

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.