Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) CFO Mark Steven Bender Sells 4,950 Shares

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) CFO Mark Steven Bender sold 4,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.19, for a total transaction of $753,340.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,141,779.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Mark Steven Bender also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 6th, Mark Steven Bender sold 4,804 shares of Westlake stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.02, for a total value of $677,460.08.
• On Monday, February 26th, Mark Steven Bender sold 4,854 shares of Westlake stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.57, for a total value of $667,764.78.

Westlake Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WLK opened at $154.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $149.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Westlake Co. has a 1-year low of $103.28 and a 1-year high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 2.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.05 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Westlake Co. will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 28th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLK. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Westlake by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 64,811 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,071,000 after buying an additional 10,687 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Westlake by 79.2% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,492,000. Aviva PLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake by 66.8% during the third quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 119,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $14,883,000 after purchasing an additional 47,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Westlake by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,260 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WLK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Westlake from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Westlake from $134.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Westlake from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays raised their target price on Westlake from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Westlake from $140.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $147.93.

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.