Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Stock Crosses Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.67 and traded as high as $23.15. Westlake Chemical Partners shares last traded at $23.1150, with a volume of 28,472 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on WLKP shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Westlake Chemical Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $814.71 million, a PE ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 3.65 and a quick ratio of 3.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.24.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $305.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $522.00 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.15% and a net margin of 4.69%. On average, research analysts expect that Westlake Chemical Partners LP will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.4714 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.2%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake Chemical Partners

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 1.1% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 633,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,038,000 after purchasing an additional 147,687 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 6.0% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 583,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,899,000 after purchasing an additional 32,863 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 520,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,887,000 after purchasing an additional 57,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 1.3% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 255,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

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.