Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 4.17%.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

Shares of WLKP stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.18. 36,000 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,069. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 12 month low of $17.75 and a 12 month high of $23.60. The company has a market cap of $817.14 million, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 2.80.

Westlake Chemical Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be given a dividend of $0.4714 per share. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. Westlake Chemical Partners’s payout ratio is 136.23%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake Chemical Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLKP. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 583,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,899,000 after buying an additional 32,863 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the 2nd quarter worth about $387,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the 4th quarter worth about $306,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 146.5% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 24,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 14,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the 4th quarter worth about $224,000. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

Westlake Chemical Partners Company Profile

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE: WLKP) is a publicly traded master limited partnership sponsored by Westlake Chemical Corporation. The partnership owns, operates and acquires a portfolio of ethylene and vinyl manufacturing assets throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. As a downstream producer of basic chemicals and intermediates, WLKP supplies key industrial feedstocks to customers in a variety of end markets.

WLKP’s operations are organized into two primary segments: olefins and vinyls.