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

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 12,306 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,726% compared to the typical daily volume of 674 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Westlake from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Westlake from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Westlake from $175.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Westlake from $157.00 to $132.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Westlake from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Westlake by 247.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Westlake Trading Down 1.0 %

WLK traded down $1.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $100.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 302,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 504,024. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $112.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market cap of $12.95 billion, a PE ratio of 142.18, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a twelve month low of $99.46 and a twelve month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.98). The business 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%. The company’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Westlake’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.36%.

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.