Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Issues Quarterly 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.25, Briefing.com reports. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.05 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Westlake Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of WLK stock opened at $152.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The company has a market cap of $19.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.53, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.30. Westlake has a 1 year low of $103.28 and a 1 year high of $162.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $148.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.09.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 27th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WLK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Vertical Research cut Westlake from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $154.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $174.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Westlake news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total transaction of $667,764.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,893,632.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 50,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,893,632.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert F. Buesinger sold 3,878 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,658 shares of company stock valued at $1,923,225. 74.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.