Critical Analysis: JSR (OTCMKTS:JSCPY) versus Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP)

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) and JSR (OTCMKTS:JSCPY) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Westlake Chemical Partners has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, JSR has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Westlake Chemical Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.89 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.8%. JSR pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays out 115.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. JSR pays out -78.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Westlake Chemical Partners and JSR, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake Chemical Partners	0	1	1	0	2.50
JSR	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares Westlake Chemical Partners and JSR’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake Chemical Partners	4.69%	7.15%	4.57%
JSR	-1.38%	-1.42%	-0.73%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.3% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Westlake Chemical Partners and JSR”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake Chemical Partners	$1.17 billion	0.65	$48.70 million	$1.64	13.05
JSR	$2.80 billion	1.88	-$36.66 million	($0.19)	-132.95

Westlake Chemical Partners has higher earnings, but lower revenue than JSR. JSR is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westlake Chemical Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Westlake Chemical Partners beats JSR on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Westlake Chemical Partners

Westlake Chemical Partners LP acquires, develops, and operates ethylene production facilities and related assets in the United States. The company’s ethylene production facilities primarily convert ethane into ethylene. It also sells ethylene co-products, such as propylene, crude butadiene, pyrolysis gasoline, and hydrogen directly to third parties on either a spot or contract basis. Westlake Chemical Partners GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. Westlake Chemical Partners LP was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About JSR

JSR Corporation engages in the plastics, digital solutions, and life sciences businesses in Japan and internationally. Its Digital Solutions Business provides lithography, photoresists, multi layered, packaging, cleaning, CMP materials, etc.; colour liquid crystal display, organic electroluminescence display materials, etc.; and heat-resistant transparent resin, functional films, and stereolithography, etc. The company's Life Sciences Business offers services to support drug development, vitro reagents for diagnostics, research and raw materials for regent, bioprocess materials, etc. Its Plastics Business provides synthetic resins, including ABS, AES, AS, and ASA resins. The company's Other Business offers acrylic emulsion, water-based emulsion, and stain resistance. JSR Corporation was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. As of April 16, 2024, JSR Corporation operates as a subsidiary of JICC-02 Co., Ltd..