Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.98 EPS

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS.

Westlake Stock Up 2.4 %

WLK opened at $112.19 on Wednesday. Westlake has a 1-year low of $104.74 and a 1-year high of $162.64. 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 $14.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $113.98 and a 200-day moving average of $128.88.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 295.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.21.

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.