Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Westlake (NYSE:WLK)

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 12,306 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,726% compared to the average daily volume of 674 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WLK. UBS Group upgraded Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Westlake from $168.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.07.

Westlake Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $100.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a 52 week low of $99.18 and a 52 week high of $162.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.03 and a 200 day moving average of $124.36.

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

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 dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Westlake’s payout ratio is presently 45.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Westlake by 1.1% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Westlake by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 14,742 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake by 43.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake by 3.8% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in Westlake by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 4,877 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.