Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) to Issue $0.53 Quarterly Dividend

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.525 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th.

Westlake has raised its dividend by an average of 21.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Westlake has a dividend payout ratio of 36.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Westlake to earn $7.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.10 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.2%.

Westlake Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of WLK stock traded down $0.90 on Friday, reaching $81.87. 1,569,493 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 616,314. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $92.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.50. Westlake has a 52 week low of $76.97 and a 52 week high of $161.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 115.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WLK. UBS Group lowered their target price on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Westlake from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $132.00 to $117.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $105.69.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 9.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 19,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the first quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Westlake by 90.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,687 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,869,000 after purchasing an additional 18,321 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% 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.