Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) and Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) Financial Comparison

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) and Minerals Technologies (NYSE:MTX) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Westlake Chemical Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.89 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.2%. Minerals Technologies pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays out 135.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Minerals Technologies pays out -2,400.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Minerals Technologies has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Westlake Chemical Partners and Minerals Technologies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake Chemical Partners	4.34%	6.00%	3.75%
Minerals Technologies	-0.08%	10.69%	5.31%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

78.3% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.3% of Minerals Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Westlake Chemical Partners and Minerals Technologies”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake Chemical Partners	$1.14 billion	0.57	$62.39 million	$1.40	13.20
Minerals Technologies	$2.07 billion	0.85	$167.10 million	($0.02)	-2,837.95

Minerals Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Westlake Chemical Partners. Minerals Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westlake Chemical Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

Westlake Chemical Partners has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Minerals Technologies has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Westlake Chemical Partners and Minerals Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake Chemical Partners	0	2	0	0	2.00
Minerals Technologies	1	0	1	0	2.00

Minerals Technologies has a consensus target price of $84.00, suggesting a potential upside of 47.99%. Given Minerals Technologies’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Minerals Technologies is more favorable than Westlake Chemical Partners.

Summary

Minerals Technologies beats Westlake Chemical Partners on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. Westlake Chemical Partners GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. Westlake Chemical Partners LP was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Minerals Technologies

Minerals Technologies Inc. develops, produces, and markets various mineral, mineral-based, and related systems and services. The company operates through two segments, Consumer & Specialties, and Engineered Solutions segments. The Consumer & Specialties segment offers household and personal care products, such as pet litter, personal care, fabric care, edible oil and other fluid purification, animal health, and agricultural products; and specialty additives products, including precipitated calcium carbonate and ground calcium carbonate products that are used in the paper, paperboard, and fiber based packaging industries, as well as automotive, construction, and table and food applications. This segment produces limestone and dolomitic limestone used in construction, automotive, and consumer markets for packaging applications. The Engineered Solutions segment provides high-temperature technology products consisting of custom-blended mineral and non-mineral products for casting auto parts, farm and construction equipment, oil and gas production equipment, power generation turbine castings, and rail car components; and environmental and infrastructure products comprising geosynthetic clay lining systems, vapor intrusion mitigation products, sub surface waterproofing systems, green roofs, wastewater remediation, drinking water purification technologies, and drilling products. In addition, this segment provides chromite products; gunnable monolithic refractory products and application systems; monolithic refractory materials and pre-cast refractory shapes; refractory shapes and linings; carbon composite and pyrolitic graphite; and filtration and well testing services. It markets its products primarily through its direct sales force, as well as regional distributors. The company serves in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Minerals Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in New York, New York.