Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) and CVR Partners (NYSE:UAN) Head-To-Head Survey

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) and CVR Partners (NYSE:UAN) are both small-cap materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Westlake Chemical Partners and CVR Partners, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake Chemical Partners	0	1	0	0	2.00
CVR Partners	0	0	1	0	3.00

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake Chemical Partners	4.66%	7.25%	4.63%
CVR Partners	23.67%	51.56%	15.70%

Dividends

Westlake Chemical Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.6%. CVR Partners pays an annual dividend of $24.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 18.5%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays out 115.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CVR Partners pays out 160.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CVR Partners has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. CVR Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Westlake Chemical Partners and CVR Partners”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake Chemical Partners	$1.23 billion	0.63	$48.70 million	$1.63	13.48
CVR Partners	$606.04 million	2.29	$98.66 million	$15.16	8.67

CVR Partners has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Westlake Chemical Partners. CVR Partners 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.

Volatility and Risk

Westlake Chemical Partners has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CVR Partners has a beta of 0.16, suggesting that its share price is 84% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.3% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.8% of CVR Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of CVR Partners shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

CVR Partners beats Westlake Chemical Partners on 10 of the 16 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 CVR Partners

CVR Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and sale of nitrogen fertilizer products in the United States. The company offers ammonia products for agricultural and industrial customers; and urea ammonium nitrate products to agricultural customers, as well as retailers and distributors. CVR GP, LLC serves as the general partner of the company. CVR Partners, LP was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Sugar Land, Texas. CVR Partners, LP is a subsidiary of CVR Energy, Inc.