Westlake (NYSE:WLK) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $1.01 EPS

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) issued its earnings results on Friday. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.01), Zacks reports. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The firm had revenue of $2.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Westlake Trading Down 13.2 %

Westlake stock opened at $80.12 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.25. Westlake has a 52 week low of $78.51 and a 52 week high of $161.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a PE ratio of 112.85, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WLK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $116.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.25.

Westlake Company Profile

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.