Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

WLKP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Westlake Chemical Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Westlake Chemical Partners Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Westlake Chemical Partners stock opened at $21.23 on Friday. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 52-week low of $17.75 and a 52-week high of $23.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $748.36 million, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 3.44.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.01). Westlake Chemical Partners had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The business had revenue of $297.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.00 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.50 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a $0.4714 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.9%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.95%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake Chemical Partners

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 114,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 6,348 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its position in Westlake Chemical Partners by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 12,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Westlake Chemical Partners in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $867,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Westlake Chemical Partners by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 2,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 17,518 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Chemical Partners Company Profile

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.