Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.20 EPS.

Westlake Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of WLK traded up $4.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.36. 520,111 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 438,100. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $140.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.37. Westlake has a twelve month low of $118.64 and a twelve month high of $162.64. The stock has a market cap of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is 100.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays raised shares of Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Westlake currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.25.

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.