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

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 15th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.525 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th.

Westlake has increased its dividend payment by an average of 17.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Westlake has a payout ratio of 25.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Westlake to earn $7.58 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 27.7%.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of WLK opened at $130.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a PE ratio of 183.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.19. Westlake has a 52-week low of $118.64 and a 52-week high of $162.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). The business had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. Westlake’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Westlake will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WLK shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.17.

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.