Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Westlake Put Options (NYSE:WLK)

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 19,461 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 4,436% compared to the typical daily volume of 429 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WLK. Barclays upgraded shares of Westlake from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $162.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Westlake from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Westlake from $174.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Westlake from $160.00 to $144.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Westlake from $167.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $162.92.

Westlake Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WLK traded up $4.58 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,329,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,950. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 65.59, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm's fifty day moving average is $140.85 and its 200 day moving average is $146.37. Westlake has a 12 month low of $118.64 and a 12 month high of $162.64.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.21 by ($0.80). The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 7.84%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Westlake will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a positive change from Westlake's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Westlake's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.96%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Westlake in the first quarter worth $43,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Westlake by 8,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 340 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Westlake during the 2nd quarter valued at about $66,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Westlake in the third quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Westlake by 66.7% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 500 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.40% of the company's stock.

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.