Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK – Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $144.15, but opened at $126.29. Westlake shares last traded at $137.44, with a volume of 444,198 shares.
The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 9.28% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The company’s revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.79 EPS.
Westlake Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 21.39%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Westlake from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.23.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Westlake by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,630,975 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $577,344,000 after buying an additional 96,152 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,803,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $454,374,000 after buying an additional 236,332 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Westlake by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,311,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $183,605,000 after buying an additional 675,725 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Westlake by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,164,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $139,097,000 after buying an additional 20,212 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Westlake by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,142,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $159,917,000 after buying an additional 66,614 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Westlake Price Performance
The firm has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $139.17 and a 200 day moving average of $130.58.
About Westlake
Westlake Corporation manufactures and markets performance and essential materials, and housing and infrastructure products in the United States, Canada, Germany, China, Italy, Taiwan, and internationally. The Performance and Essential Materials segment offers polyethylene, styrene monomer, ethylene co-products, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride monomer, ethylene dichloride chlor-alkali, chlorinated derivative products, and epoxy resins.