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

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.471 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th.

Westlake Chemical Partners has a payout ratio of 110.5% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Westlake Chemical Partners to earn $1.70 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 111.2%.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

Westlake Chemical Partners stock opened at $22.52 on Friday. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 52-week low of $21.16 and a 52-week high of $23.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.44 and a 200-day moving average of $22.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $793.38 million, a P/E ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NYSE:WLKP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.03). Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business had revenue of $284.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Andrew Kenner bought 2,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.63 per share, for a total transaction of $60,919.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 185,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,186,550. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders bought 16,119 shares of company stock worth $369,340. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.