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

Westlake Co. (NYSE:WLK) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors bought 6,175 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 863% compared to the typical daily volume of 641 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Westlake

In other news, Director David Tsung-Hung Chao sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.08, for a total value of $225,890.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,784 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,004,758.72. This trade represents a 18.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 74.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Westlake

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 226 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Westlake by 6,316.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 385 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake by 1,668.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 318 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 523 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WLK. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Westlake from $171.00 to $165.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group raised 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, January 10th. Citigroup raised Westlake from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $152.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Westlake from $170.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.79.

Westlake Trading Down 3.3 %

WLK stock traded down $3.57 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $106.14. The stock had a trading volume of 333,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,382. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.38. 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 firm has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.69, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.17. Westlake has a twelve month low of $105.14 and a twelve month high of $162.64.

Westlake Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 4th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Westlake’s payout ratio is 295.77%.

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.