Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Announces Earnings Results

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.16, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $314.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.33 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 4.77%.

Here are the key takeaways from Westlake Chemical Partners’ conference call:

• Third-quarter net income was $16 million, or $0.46 per unit, while distributable cash flow rose to $18 million, or $0.51 per unit. Both improved year over year and sequentially, driven mainly by higher production and sales volumes; trailing 12-month distribution coverage increased to 1.09x from 1.04x.
• The Partnership declared a $0.4714 per-unit distribution, its 49th consecutive quarterly distribution without a reduction. Management said cumulative distribution coverage has remained above 1.05x since the 2014 IPO and that the current distribution can be sustained without accessing capital markets.
• The Partnership ended the quarter with $113 million in cash and cash investments, $400 million in consolidated long-term debt, and approximately 1.0x leverage. Management reported no planned turnarounds for the remainder of 2026 or in 2027.
• Third-party ethylene prices had risen early in the fourth quarter and were above the third-quarter average, which management said could provide a modest benefit. The exposure is limited, however, as third-party sales account for roughly 5% of annual sales; the fixed-margin agreement with Westlake remains in place through 2027.

Westlake Chemical Partners Stock Performance

Shares of WLKP stock opened at $21.29 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.99. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 12 month low of $17.75 and a 12 month high of $23.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $750.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.44, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Westlake Chemical Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.4714 per share. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLKP has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.00.

About Westlake Chemical Partners

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE: WLKP) is a master limited partnership that owns, operates and acquires ethylene production assets. Ethylene is a basic petrochemical used in the manufacture of plastics, polymers and other industrial products.

The partnership’s operations are focused on ethylene production facilities in the United States, including assets in Louisiana and Kentucky. Its ethylene is sold primarily under long-term agreements to Westlake Corporation, its primary customer and sponsor, as well as to certain third-party customers.

Westlake Chemical Partners was formed in 2014 and became a publicly traded partnership that year.