Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Hits New 1-Year High Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $25.04 and last traded at $24.73, with a volume of 12644 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.22.

The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.07. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 5.40%.

Westlake Chemical Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.4714 per share. This is a positive change from Westlake Chemical Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.73%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLKP. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 2,141.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 32,763 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 31,301 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 2,178.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,230,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,984,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132,523 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 55,478 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 27,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Chemical Partners Stock Up 0.7 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.08. 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 company has a market cap of $859.30 million, a PE ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.09.

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.