Westlake (WLK) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Tuesday

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) will be announcing its earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, November 5th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $2.04 per share for the quarter. Persons that are interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.41. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $3.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. Westlake’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Westlake to post $7 EPS for the current fiscal year and $8 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $132.14 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.66. The stock has a market cap of $16.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.53, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Westlake has a 12 month low of $118.25 and a 12 month high of $162.64.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. This is an increase from Westlake’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Westlake’s payout ratio is currently 100.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WLK. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Mizuho started coverage on Westlake in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $172.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $151.00 to $159.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.92.

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.