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

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.525 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%.

Westlake has increased its dividend payment by an average of 21.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive 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 %

WLK stock traded down $1.72 on Friday, reaching $109.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 802,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,723. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.74. Westlake has a 12-month low of $108.56 and a 12-month high of $162.64. The firm has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 154.48, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Westlake in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $168.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of Westlake stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 74.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.