Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Upgraded 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 published on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

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

Westlake Chemical Partners Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of WLKP opened at $21.47 on Friday. Westlake Chemical Partners has a one year low of $17.75 and a one year high of $23.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 3.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.00. The company has a market cap of $756.82 million, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.51.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $314.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.33 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.55% and a net margin of 4.77%. Research analysts forecast that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.50 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.4714 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.8%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.17%.

Institutional Trading of Westlake Chemical Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,582 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,833 shares during the last quarter. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 17.1% during the third quarter. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,639 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in Westlake Chemical Partners by 10.0% during the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 12,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the period. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its position in Westlake Chemical Partners by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 21,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Chemical Partners Company Profile

Westlake Chemical Partners LP is a master limited partnership formed in 2014 to own and operate ethylene production facilities and related assets. Its operations are conducted through Westlake Chemical OpCo LP, in which the partnership holds an interest. The partnership’s assets include ethylene production facilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Calvert City, Kentucky, as well as related pipeline and storage infrastructure. Ethylene is a key chemical building block used to make products such as polyethylene and other plastics.