Insider Selling: Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Director Sells 1,750 Shares of Stock

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,239,420. The trade was a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Westlake Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of WLK stock traded up $1.85 on Monday, hitting $132.30. 37,386 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 444,261. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.44. Westlake Co. has a one year low of $118.64 and a one year high of $162.64.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upgraded Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company 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 price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho began coverage on Westlake in a report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Westlake from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Westlake by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,198,710 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $180,154,000 after buying an additional 9,838 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 699.1% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 595,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,445,000 after acquiring an additional 520,669 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Westlake by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,837,000 after purchasing an additional 23,558 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Westlake by 90.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 386,480 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,084,000 after purchasing an additional 183,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the 3rd quarter worth about $55,542,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.