Pinnacle Holdings LLC Purchases New Shares in Westlake Chemical Partners LP $WLKP

Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 38,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $867,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 142.9% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 3,708 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $173,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 45.8% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WLKP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Westlake Chemical Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

WLKP opened at $21.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $756.47 million, a P/E ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.09 and a 200-day moving average of $22.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.44. Westlake Chemical Partners LP has a 1-year low of $17.75 and a 1-year high of $23.88.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $537.00 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 4.66%. Equities analysts expect that Westlake Chemical Partners LP will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.4714 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.8%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.95%.

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.