ING Groep NV Purchases 29,000 Shares of Westlake Chemical Partners LP $WLKP

ING Groep NV grew its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) by 54.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,000 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV owned about 0.23% of Westlake Chemical Partners worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 3,708 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 45.8% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 3,187 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $387,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Chemical Partners Stock Performance

NYSE WLKP opened at $23.30 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.35. Westlake Chemical Partners LP has a 12-month low of $17.75 and a 12-month high of $23.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $821.33 million, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Westlake Chemical Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a $0.4714 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.1%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About Westlake Chemical Partners

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.