Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $23.74 and last traded at $23.71, with a volume of 30259 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WLKP shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Westlake Chemical Partners currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Westlake Chemical Partners Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $832.96 million, a PE ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a current ratio of 3.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.48 and its 200-day moving average is $20.80.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). Westlake Chemical Partners had a net margin of 4.69% and a return on equity of 7.15%. The business had revenue of $305.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $522.00 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Chemical Partners LP will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $0.4714 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.0%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 115.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake Chemical Partners

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ING Groep NV boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 152.4% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 53,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 32,000 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 228,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 8,424 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 33,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $640,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 22,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

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.