Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.53

Westlake Corporation (NYSE:WLK) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.53 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Wednesday, March 18th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 3rd.

Westlake has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Westlake has a payout ratio of 41.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Westlake to earn $7.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.5%.

Westlake Stock Performance

Westlake stock opened at $105.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.82. The stock has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 45.50 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.39. Westlake has a 1-year low of $56.33 and a 1-year high of $114.75.

Westlake (NYSE:WLK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $1.22. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.61 billion. Westlake had a negative return on equity of 1.22% and a negative net margin of 13.50%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Westlake will post 6.48 EPS for the current year.

About Westlake

Westlake Corp. is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, polymers and building products, serving customers across industrial and residential markets. The company’s core operations encompass the production of vinyls—primarily polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and its key feedstock vinyl chloride monomer (VCM)—as well as chlor-alkali products including caustic soda and chlorine. In addition, Westlake produces ethylene, propylene and specialty elastomers, along with construction-related materials such as vinyl siding, trim, windows and roofing systems.

Operating a network of vertically integrated plants and distribution centers, Westlake serves markets in North America, Europe and Asia.