Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. 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 traded.

The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by ($0.80). Westlake had a return on equity of 7.84% and a net margin of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WLK shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com lowered Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays raised Westlake from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 4.1% during the third 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 grew 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 purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Westlake during the third quarter worth about $3,036,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Westlake by 1.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,548 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,990,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Stock Up 3.5 %

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

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.