Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WLKP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

Shares of WLKP opened at $21.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.38 and its 200-day moving average is $21.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 3.44 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The company has a market capitalization of $770.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.52. Westlake Chemical Partners has a fifty-two week low of $17.75 and a fifty-two week high of $23.88.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $297.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.00 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 4.66%. Equities research analysts expect that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.50 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Westlake Chemical Partners

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $867,000. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 1.1% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,582,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,947,000 after purchasing an additional 17,518 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 5.9% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 114,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 6,348 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 36.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrow Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Westlake Chemical Partners by 17.1% during the third quarter. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 1,555 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Chemical Partners Company Profile

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE: WLKP) is a master limited partnership that owns, operates and acquires ethylene production assets. Ethylene is a basic petrochemical used in the manufacture of plastics, polymers and other industrial products.

The partnership’s operations are focused on ethylene production facilities in the United States, including assets in Louisiana and Kentucky. Its ethylene is sold primarily under long-term agreements to Westlake Corporation, its primary customer and sponsor, as well as to certain third-party customers.

Westlake Chemical Partners was formed in 2014 and became a publicly traded partnership that year.