Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Earns Strong-Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 18th.

Westlake Chemical Partners Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WLKP opened at $21.57 on Thursday. Westlake Chemical Partners has a one year low of $18.58 and a one year high of $29.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.67 and a quick ratio of 3.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $759.74 million, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.01.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. Westlake Chemical Partners had a net margin of 4.03% and a return on equity of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $366.84 million for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 2nd were paid a $0.471 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 1st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.73%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 102.73%.

Insider Transactions at Westlake Chemical Partners

In other news, SVP Andrew Kenner bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.44 per share, for a total transaction of $107,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 65,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,393,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 550,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,926,000 after purchasing an additional 21,567 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 473,897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,137,000 after buying an additional 2,290 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 49.6% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 442,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,515,000 after buying an additional 146,705 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 351,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,269,000 after buying an additional 15,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after buying an additional 19,622 shares during the last quarter. 31.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Westlake Chemical Partners

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Westlake Chemical Partners LP engages in the operation, acquisition and development of ethylene production facilities and related assets. It is also involved in the manufacture and marketing of basic chemicals, polymers, and fabricated building products. The company was founded on March 14, 2014 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.