Westlake Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:WLK)

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors bought 11,881 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,867% compared to the typical volume of 604 put options.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,534 shares in the company, valued at $1,239,420. The trade was a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 74.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WLK. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Westlake by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Westlake by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Westlake by 4.1% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Price Performance

WLK stock traded up $3.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $113.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 683,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 613,630. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 159.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.18. Westlake has a 12 month low of $108.95 and a 12 month 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $122.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.60.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.31 billion. Westlake had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 0.81%. The company's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Westlake's dividend payout ratio is currently 295.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WLK shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Westlake from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $159.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $144.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Westlake from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised Westlake from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $152.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $154.85.

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.