Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.47 Per Share

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.4714 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This is an increase from Westlake Chemical Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47.

Westlake Chemical Partners has a dividend payout ratio of 81.8% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Westlake Chemical Partners to earn $1.70 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 111.2%.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLKP traded up $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.58. The company had a trading volume of 16,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,838. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.93. The company has a current ratio of 4.53, a quick ratio of 4.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $866.20 million, a P/E ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.10. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 12 month low of $21.19 and a 12 month high of $24.60.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $277.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.16 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 5.40%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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.