Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.15 EPS

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The basic materials company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.15, Zacks reports. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 5.40%. The business had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

WLKP traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,347. The company has a market cap of $794.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.54. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 1 year low of $21.16 and a 1 year high of $23.68. The company has a quick ratio of 4.59, a current ratio of 4.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Westlake Chemical Partners Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.471 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.35%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Andrew Kenner bought 2,692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.63 per share, with a total value of $60,919.96. Following the purchase, the senior vice president now directly owns 185,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,186,550. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders purchased 4,119 shares of company stock worth $93,460 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barclays upgraded Westlake Chemical Partners to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th.

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.