Westlake Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:WLK)

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 12,306 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,726% compared to the average volume of 674 put options.

Westlake Price Performance

NYSE:WLK opened at $101.18 on Friday. Westlake has a one year low of $99.37 and a one year high of $162.64. 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 cap of $12.97 billion, a PE ratio of 142.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $112.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.67.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 0.81% and a return on equity of 6.93%. Westlake’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Westlake during the third quarter worth $420,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Westlake by 1.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WLK shares. UBS Group upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their price target on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.07.

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.