Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.25 EPS

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.25, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.05 EPS.

Westlake Trading Down 0.3 %

WLK stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Thursday, hitting $148.73. The company had a trading volume of 162,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 395,752. The business has a 50-day moving average of $147.98 and a 200-day moving average of $137.81. Westlake has a one year low of $103.28 and a one year high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $19.07 billion, a PE ratio of 40.32, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 54.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Westlake from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Vertical Research cut shares of Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.79.

Insider Activity at Westlake

In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,110 shares in the company, valued at $6,893,632.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Westlake news, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,055,308. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 50,110 shares in the company, valued at $6,893,632.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,658 shares of company stock worth $1,923,225 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 74.10% 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.