Wall Street Zen Upgrades Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) to “Buy”

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

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

Westlake Chemical Partners Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:WLKP opened at $21.23 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.44, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Westlake Chemical Partners has a twelve month low of $17.75 and a twelve month high of $23.88. The company has a market cap of $748.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.40 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $537.00 million. Analysts anticipate that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.50 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake Chemical Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLKP. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 1.1% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 5.9% in the 3rd 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. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake Chemical Partners in the second quarter worth $867,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.4% during the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 10.0% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 12,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares during the period. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Westlake Chemical Partners

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.