Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.53

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.53 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Thursday, June 11th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th.

Westlake has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Westlake has a dividend payout ratio of 41.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Westlake to earn $3.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.2%.

Westlake Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Westlake stock opened at $88.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 2.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $108.76 and a 200 day moving average of $90.76. Westlake has a fifty-two week low of $56.33 and a fifty-two week high of $124.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.98 and a beta of 0.67.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.67). Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.89% and a negative net margin of 14.91%.The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.31) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Westlake will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Company Profile

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.