Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Plans $0.47 Quarterly Dividend

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.4714 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th.

Westlake Chemical Partners has a payout ratio of 93.1% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities research analysts expect Westlake Chemical Partners to earn $1.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 99.0%.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLKP opened at $22.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $787.04 million, a PE ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.08. Westlake Chemical Partners has a twelve month low of $20.86 and a twelve month high of $23.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $22.20 and its 200 day moving average is $22.17. The company has a current ratio of 5.21, a quick ratio of 5.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 6.32% and a net margin of 4.64%. The firm had revenue of $284.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Westlake Chemical Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Andrew Kenner bought 4,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.16 per share, with a total value of $93,736.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 145,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,231,792.24. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 24,230 shares of company stock valued at $537,587. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Westlake Chemical Partners Company Profile

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.