Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Shares Pass Above 50 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP)’s share price passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.33 and traded as high as $19.78. Westlake Chemical Partners shares last traded at $19.6550, with a volume of 73,756 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WLKP. Wall Street Zen upgraded Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Westlake Chemical Partners to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Westlake Chemical Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Westlake Chemical Partners Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.37. The firm has a market cap of $697.25 million, a PE ratio of 14.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.02.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $308.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $303.00 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 6.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Chemical Partners LP will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.4714 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s payout ratio is 135.00%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake Chemical Partners

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 24,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 228,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after buying an additional 8,424 shares during the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 37,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 7,478 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,631 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Chemical Partners Company Profile

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.