Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Stock Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP)’s stock price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.51 and traded as high as $21.36. Westlake Chemical Partners shares last traded at $21.1250, with a volume of 50,903 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WLKP shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Westlake Chemical Partners Stock Up 0.1%

The company has a market cap of $744.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.48.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $308.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $303.00 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 6.00% and a net margin of 4.34%. Sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Chemical Partners LP will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.4714 per share. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. Westlake Chemical Partners’s payout ratio is 135.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WLKP. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 228,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,285,000 after buying an additional 8,424 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Westlake Chemical Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 12.6% in the second quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,631 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 2,084 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 6.0% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 583,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,899,000 after acquiring an additional 32,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

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.