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

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 12,290 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,987% compared to the average daily volume of 589 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Westlake by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 98,056 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,242,000 after purchasing an additional 4,088 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Westlake by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 236,354 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,098,000 after purchasing an additional 11,992 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 59,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,822,000 after purchasing an additional 12,833 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Westlake by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 552,646 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,837,000 after buying an additional 23,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,313,847 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $379,933,000 after purchasing an additional 574,068 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK opened at $86.88 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $105.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.32. Westlake has a 1 year low of $81.41 and a 1 year high of $161.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04.

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

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.42%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on WLK shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Westlake in a report on Monday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Westlake from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Westlake from $166.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.15.

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.