Earnings and Dividends per Share (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Earnings and Dividends Per Share [Abstract]

Earnings and Dividends per Share

Earnings per Share

The Company has unvested restricted stock units outstanding that are considered participating securities and, therefore, computes basic and diluted earnings per share under the two-class method. Basic earnings per share for the periods are based upon the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period. Diluted earnings per share include the effects of certain stock options and performance stock units.


	Three Months Ended March 31,
		2021		2020
Net income attributable to Westlake Chemical Corporation		$	242	$	145
Less:
Net income attributable to participating securities		(1)		—
Net income attributable to common shareholders		$	241	$	145

The following table reconciles the denominator for the basic and diluted earnings per share computations shown in the consolidated statements of operations:


	Three Months Ended March 31,
		2021		2020
Weighted average common shares—basic		127,955,532		128,237,364
Plus incremental shares from:
Assumed exercise of options and vesting of performance stock units		527,841		205,608
Weighted average common shares—diluted		128,483,373		128,442,972

Earnings per common share attributable to Westlake Chemical Corporation:
Basic		$	1.88	$	1.13
Diluted		$	1.87	$	1.13

Excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share are options to purchase 575,727 and 1,099,638 shares of common stock for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. These options were outstanding during the periods reported but were excluded because the effect of including them would have been antidilutive.

Dividends per Share

Dividends per common share for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 were as follows:


	Three Months Ended March 31,
		2021		2020
Dividends per common share		$	0.2700	$	0.2625