Westlake Co. (WLK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.53 on March 19th

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of 0.525 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%.

Westlake has raised its dividend payment by an average of 21.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Westlake has a dividend payout ratio of 22.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 1.5 %

Westlake stock opened at $109.68 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.48. Westlake has a 12 month low of $108.56 and a 12 month high of $162.64. The company has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WLK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on Westlake in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Westlake currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.79.

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.