WLK - Westlake Chemical Corporation
| Previous Close | 65.71 |
| Open | 65.12 |
| Bid | 0.00 x 1100 |
| Ask | 64.49 x 1100 |
| Day's Range | 63.32 - 65.24 |
| 52 Week Range | 55.82 - 87.65 |
| Volume | 349,246 |
| Avg. Volume | 711,806 |
| Market Cap | 8.296B |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 1.59 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 13.52 |
| EPS (TTM) | N/A |
| Earnings Date | N/A |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 1.05 (1.60%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-08-26 |
| 1y Target Est | N/A |
- Simply Wall St.
Should You Investigate Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) At US$60.60?
Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK), which is in the chemicals business, and is based in United States, saw...
- Zacks
Why Is Westlake (WLK) Down 7.2% Since Last Earnings Report?
Westlake (WLK) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.
- Zacks
Westlake Chemical's Unit & Alexandria Moulding Expand Tie-Up
Westlake Chemical's (WLK) partnership expansion with Alexandria Moulding includes distribution to professional channels.
- Simply Wall St.
Is It Smart To Buy Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Before It Goes Ex-Dividend?
It looks like Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 2 days. You will need to...
- Simply Wall St.
Is Westlake Chemical (NYSE:WLK) Using Too Much Debt?
Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' It's only natural to consider a company's...
- Zacks
Westlake Chemical Declares 5% Hike in Quarterly Dividend
The latest dividend represents the 60th consecutive quarterly dividend declared by Westlake Chemical (WLK).
- Thomson Reuters StreetEvents
Edited Transcript of WLK earnings conference call or presentation 6-Aug-19 3:00pm GMT
Q2 2019 Westlake Chemical Corp Earnings Call
Motley FoolWestlake Chemical Partners LP (WLKP) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
WLKP earnings call for the period ending June 30, 2019.
- Zacks
Westlake Chemical (WLK) Q2 Earnings, Sales Trounce Estimates
Westlake Chemical (WLK) delivered better-than-expected results amid a challenging environment in Q2.
- Motley Fool
Westlake Chemical Corp (WLK) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
WLK earnings call for the period ending June 30, 2019.
- American City Business Journals
Houston chemical co. faced trade uncertainty, long winter since start of year
The company said a few months ago that tensions on trade between the U.S. and China were impacting its bottom line, and those tensions have only gotten worse since.
- Zacks
Westlake Chemical (WLK) Tops Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
Westlake (WLK) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of 9.52% and 2.15%, respectively, for the quarter ended June 2019. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
- Simply Wall St.
Need To Know: Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Insiders Have Been Selling Shares
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. Unfortunately, there are also...
- Zacks
Analysts Estimate Westlake Chemical (WLK) to Report a Decline in Earnings: What to Look Out for
Westlake (WLK) doesn't possess the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
- InvestorPlace
Buy Dow Stock for the Dividend as the Breakup Dust Settles
After several years of planning, negotiations, talking with regulators, and other such work, the great DowDuPont (Dow ((NYSE:DOW)), DuPont ((NYSE:DD)) merger and subsequent breakup is complete. The old Dow Chemical and DuPont merged awhile ago with the explicit intention to break back up afterward. Why'd they do this? And what's it mean for the new DOW stock? Click to Enlarge Source: Shutterstock The strategic rationale is a solid one. Both Dow and DuPont had a lot of businesses and product lines that competed directly with each other. The firms were fierce rivals, in fact.By bringing everything together in one company, Dow and DuPont could stop needlessly competing with each other. However, the combined firm was an absolute industrial behemoth. To keep things manageable, the companies decided to split the united organization up into three standalone entities.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 10 Stocks to Buy From This Superstar Fund With the completed spin-off of Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) earlier this spring, the long M&A process is finally over. DowDupont has now fully demerged into three entities: Dow, Dupont and Corteva. Dow is the commodity chemical business, with a general focus on products made out of hydrocarbons. DuPont makes a wide variety of chemicals that go into a large number of industrial applications. Corteva is the smallest firm of the three and focuses exclusively on agricultural seeds and chemicals. DuPont and Corteva Offer More GrowthOf the three firms, Corteva should offer investors the most growth prospects. Its seeds business, in particular, is a strong one. It has only a few rivals, namely Monsanto and Syngenta. Both of those firms produced massive shareholder returns in recent decades before being acquired. Farmers rely on the trio of those two, plus Corteva, for cutting-edge seeds that boost agricultural production and help resist pests and drought among other maladies.Corteva's agricultural chemicals are also designed, in large part, to work in combination with its GMO seeds. Both Dow and DuPont had a strong business in agriculture, so the combined firm should be a winner. I added to my CTVA stock position after the spin-off concluded.DuPont is another interesting option out of the three. Post-M&A activity, DuPont is now exposed to a vast number of businesses. These range from kitchen plastic wrap to Kevlar vests, micro-components for automotive electronics and a long list of other such things. DuPont gets no more than 15% of its revenues from any one industry.This gives it wide diversification and protects it from a recession more than most other industrial firms. DD stock should offer folks a strong growth and income combination, though its starting 2% dividend yield isn't massive. The Best Option for Dividend InvestorsWhile DuPont and Corteva offer attractive growth, the main appeal for DOW stock is its generous dividend policy. DOW stock offers a 70 cent per quarter payout. That's $2.80 per year, or a nearly 5.5% dividend yield at the current Dow stock price.Based on current earnings projections, Dow can cover that payout from its earnings though it is certainly an aggressive payout. Over time, Dow should be able to grow its earnings, as it has cut nearly $1.4 billion in costs as a result of merger synergies. It expects to pick up several hundred million more in additional savings.Over time, Dow plans to return 65% of its cash flow to investors, with around 45% of that coming in the form of dividends. The rest will be devoted to DOW stock buybacks.This strategy makes a lot of sense. Dow is, generally, in a lot of slow-growing or mature businesses. It doesn't need to invest much in R&D as a result, unlike, say, Corteva with its next-gen agricultural seeds. So the new Dow is an ideal vehicle for income-focused investors. Dow Stock VerdictThat said, it's not all roses and sunshine for investors in the Dow Chemical. A lot of Dow's businesses are pretty stagnant. And a good number rely on oil as an input and are subject to margin pressures depending on commodity prices. As it is, analysts see Dow's revenues actually falling a bit in 2019 before leveling off in 2020 and 2021. The earnings growth, to the extent it comes, will be from cost savings. The share buyback should also raise EPS once it starts taking effect.There's a lot to like about Dow Inc's stock post-breakup if you are an income investor. The stock already yields 5.5%, which puts it at nearly triple the S&P 500's yield or that of 10-year treasury bonds.If Dow management is able to follow through on projected cost savings, it should be able to hike the dividend dramatically over the next two years. If management hits its projections, DOW stock's yield could reach 7% within a couple of years.Don't expect DOW stock to skyrocket anytime soon, however. Competitors like LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) and Westlake Chemical (NYSE:WLK) trade at around 8x earnings.So Dow, at 9x, is actually slightly more expensive than its immediate peers. The dividend is great, but investors simply aren't going to value a stodgy low-growth chemical business very highly. And earnings - and the dividend - could get hit the next time a recession rolls around.At the time of this writing, Ian Bezek owned DOW, DD, and CTVA stock. You can reach him on Twitter at @irbezek. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Stocks to Buy From This Superstar Fund * 7 Stocks to Buy This Summer Earnings Season * 7 Marijuana Penny Stocks to Consider for Those Who Can Handle Risk The post Buy Dow Stock for the Dividend as the Breakup Dust Settles appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- InvestorPlace
Investors Can Clean Up On The Dividend With Dow Stock
Dow Inc. (NYSE:DOW) has begun to recover in recent weeks. DOW stock spiked higher after its separation from DowDuPont in March. However, it started to decline in April after a JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) analyst rated it an underweight. It would go on to lose almost 23% of its value over the next two months.Source: Shutterstock That decline bottomed on May 31. Although DOW and its industry face deep uncertainty, valuation and cash flows provide a reason to take a chance on Dow stock.The situation is that DOW has become cheap due to trade wars and a murky outlook.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Topping Rival Chemicals ValuationsBack in April, I held a bearish take on DOW stock. Its price-to-earnings (PE) ratio started low as it spun off from the former DowDuPont. Despite the low valuation, l believed it would fall since it still traded at a higher multiple than peers such as LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB) and Westlake Chemical (NYSE:WLK). * 10 Stocks to Sell for an Economic Slowdown Since that time, DOW stock has fallen from the $55 per share range, dropping to as low as $46.75 a piece in late May. However, from that point, the price decline has stopped and even shown signs of recovery. Even a recent profit warning from German chemical giant BASF (OTCMKTS:BASFY) did not stop DOW from moving higher over the last week. Now, DOW has again gained to just over $50 per share today.Despite that partial recovery, many of my concerns remain. The uncertainty surrounding Dow stock has weighed on both Dow and its former DowDuPont partners, Corteva (NYSE:CTVA) and DuPont de Nemours (NYSE:DD). The trade war continues to hurt profits as well. As our own Vince Martin pointed out, tariffs could reduce EBITDA by $100 million.My InvestorPlace colleague Tezcan Gecgil believes "the bears are in control" and that DOW stock needs a catalyst. Indeed, profit estimates continue to fall. Analysts predict earnings of $4.35 per share for the year. However, that forecast is down from the $4.92 per share seen as recently as 90 days ago. DOW Stock a Buy at These LevelsStill, with Dow Inc. stock now trading at almost 10% less than the early April price, I also have to agree with Mr. Martin that the current price factors in the challenges DOW faces. The forward PE of 9.6x also compares favorably with the other two companies that used to make up DowDuPont as well as Westlake Chemical. Moreover, despite this low valuation, analysts predict robust levels of profit increases. So far, forecasts place earnings growth at 20.2% for this year and just over 10% in 2020. * 7 Dependable Dividend Stocks to Buy On top of that, investors can collect an annual dividend of $2.80 per share while they wait for this growth to drive the stock price higher. At the current DOW stock price, that amounts to a yield of over 5.5%. The old DowDuPont slashed the dividend in both 2017 and 2018 after years of increases. It remains unclear when (or even if) DOW will resume dividend increases. Still, this provides a significant return while investors wait for a recovery in the equity. Bottom Line on DOW StockAt current levels, both the low PE ratio and the dividend payout justify a position in DOW stock. In some respects, DOW has become cheap for a reason. Trade-war related uncertainty has hurt profits. Also, the company has only existed in its current form since March. This makes evaluating the company from quarter to quarter and predicting future changes in the dividend difficult.However, even amid significant earnings increases, we know that its forward PE ratio has fallen to under 10x. Moreover, the company currently delivers a payout of more than 5.5%. If nothing else, investors can profit from DOW stock merely by treating it as an income play. As the trade war drags on and DOW develops a track record, Dow Inc. stock should profit investors whether or not the stock continues to trade at a low PE ratio.As of this writing, Will Healy did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. You can follow Will on Twitter at @HealyWriting. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Stocks Top Investors Are Buying Now * The 10 Best Cryptocurrencies to Keep on Your Radar * 7 Marijuana Penny Stocks That Could Triple (But You Won't Make Money) The post Investors Can Clean Up On The Dividend With Dow Stock appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Simply Wall St.
Read This Before You Buy Westlake Chemical Corporation (NYSE:WLK) Because Of Its P/E Ratio
Today, we'll introduce the concept of the P/E ratio for those who are learning about investing. To keep it practical...
- Zacks
Westlake Chemical (WLK) Declares Pricing of Senior Notes
Westlake Chemical (WLK) intends to use the net proceeds from the transaction for general corporate purposes.
- Moody's
Westlake Chemical Corporation -- Moody's assigns Baa2 rating to Westlake's Euro notes
Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") assigned a Baa2 rating to Westlake Chemical Corporation's ("Westlake") Euro-denominated Senior Notes. "Westlake's opportunistic debt issuance will result in a temporary increase in leverage, but the rating incorporated an expectation for an increase in debt over time to help address the company's short position in ethylene," said Ben Nelson, Moody's Vice President -- Senior Credit Officer and lead analyst for Westlake Chemical Company.
- Benzinga
Westlake Chemical Setting Realistic Guidance Will Boost Investor Confidence, BMO Says
Westlake Chemical Corporation’s (NYSE: WLK) management on Monday provided annual guidance for the first time in the company’s history. BMO’s John McNulty maintained a Market Perform rating on Westlake Chemical with a price target of $75. Westlake Chemical announced second-quarter EBITDA and EPS guidance at $340 million-$363 million and 73 cents-87 cents, respectively.
- Zacks
Westlake Chemical Q2 & FY19 View Falls Short of Expectations
Westlake Chemical (WLK) expects earnings between 73 cents and 87 cents per share for the second quarter.
- Simply Wall St.
Does Westlake Chemical Corporation's (NYSE:WLK) Debt Level Pose A Problem?
Small-cap and large-cap companies receive a lot of attention from investors, but mid-cap stocks like Westlake Chemical...
- Simply Wall St.
What does Westlake Chemical Corporation's (NYSE:WLK) Balance Sheet Tell Us About Its Future?
Small-caps and large-caps are wildly popular among investors, however, mid-cap stocks, such as Westlake Chemical...
- Insider Monkey
Here’s What Hedge Funds Think About Westlake Chemical Corporation (WLK)
Hedge funds and other investment firms that we track manage billions of dollars of their wealthy clients' money, and needless to say, they are painstakingly thorough when analyzing where to invest this money, as their own wealth also depends on it. Regardless of the various methods used by elite investors like David Tepper and David […]
- Zacks
Westlake Chemical's (WLK) Unit Acquires DaVinci Roofscapes
Westlake Chemical's (WLK) subsidiary Royal Building's buyout complements its existing premium products.
