Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $131.48, but opened at $125.41. Westlake shares last traded at $131.44, with a volume of 42,468 shares.

The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The business had revenue of $3.12 billion for 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 was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share.

Westlake Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WLK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upgraded Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.92.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Westlake in the third quarter valued at about $3,036,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 1.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,548 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,990,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 3.8% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Up 3.5 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.30. The firm has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.93, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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.