Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.53

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.525 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th.

Westlake has increased its dividend payment by an average of 21.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Westlake has a dividend payout ratio of 36.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $85.67. 31,479 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 597,180. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of 120.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.03. Westlake has a 12 month low of $76.97 and a 12 month high of $161.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $2.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WLK shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $135.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target (down from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.08.

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.