Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) vs. Orion (NYSE:OEC) Head-To-Head Survey

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

Dividends

Westlake Chemical Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.89 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.5%. Orion pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays out 126.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Orion pays out 29.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility & Risk

Westlake Chemical Partners has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Orion has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake Chemical Partners	4.78%	6.38%	4.00%
Orion	0.82%	16.67%	4.00%

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake Chemical Partners	$1.14 billion	0.62	$62.39 million	$1.49	13.42
Orion	$1.88 billion	0.17	$44.20 million	$0.27	21.33

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Westlake Chemical Partners and Orion, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake Chemical Partners	0	2	0	0	2.00
Orion	3	2	0	0	1.40

Orion has a consensus price target of $7.67, indicating a potential upside of 33.10%. Given Orion’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Orion is more favorable than Westlake Chemical Partners.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

78.3% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.3% of Orion shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Orion shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Orion beats Westlake Chemical Partners on 8 of the 14 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 Orion

Orion S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of carbon black products. It operates in two segments, Specialty Carbon Black and Rubber Carbon Black. The company offers post-treated specialty carbon black grades for coatings and printing applications; high purity carbon black grades for the fiber industry; and conductive carbon black grades for batteries, polymers, and coatings. It also provides rubber carbon black products for applications in mechanical rubber goods, as well as in tires under the ECORAX brand name; and acetylene-based conductive additives for lithium-ion batteries and other applications. It operates in the United States, Brazil, rest of the Americas, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Spain, Turkey, France, Rest of EMEA, China, the Republic of Korea, and rest of Asia. The company was formerly known as Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. and changed its name to Orion S.A. in June 2023. Orion S.A. was founded in 1862 and is headquartered in Senningerberg, Luxembourg.