Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.47

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.4714 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th.

Westlake Chemical Partners has a payout ratio of 92.6% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities research analysts expect Westlake Chemical Partners to earn $1.70 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 110.6%.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

Shares of Westlake Chemical Partners stock opened at $21.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.98. Westlake Chemical Partners has a twelve month low of $17.75 and a twelve month high of $23.88. The firm has a market cap of $770.71 million, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WLKP shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings lowered Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.00.

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.