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

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 by an average of 21.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Westlake has a payout ratio of 22.4% indicating that 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 Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE WLK traded down $1.72 on Friday, hitting $109.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 802,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 585,640. Westlake has a 52-week low of $108.56 and a 52-week 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.58. The firm has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 154.48, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Westlake news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of Westlake 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 sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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 initiated coverage on Westlake in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $168.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.