Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.53 Per Share

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a dividend of 0.533 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Thursday, September 10th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This is a 0.6% increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53.

Westlake has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Westlake has a dividend payout ratio of 41.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Westlake to earn $3.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.13 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.2%.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $78.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.24 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $76.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.53. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $124.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.18. Westlake had a positive return on equity of 0.93% and a negative net margin of 10.94%.The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.11) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Westlake will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Westlake

In related news, Chairman Albert Chao sold 38,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $3,120,724.44. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 642,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,610,406.40. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake during the second quarter valued at about $202,000. AlphaGrep UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Westlake during the second quarter worth about $897,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in Westlake during the second quarter valued at about $3,755,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in Westlake during the second quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in Westlake in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $452,000. Institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

About Westlake

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.