Short Interest in Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Decreases By 20.9%

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 115,655 shares, a decline of 20.9% from the March 15th total of 146,247 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 33,182 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WLKP has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake Chemical Partners

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WLKP. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 633,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,038,000 after buying an additional 147,687 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 520,388 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,887,000 after buying an additional 57,624 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 104.2% during the third quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 77,442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 39,519 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 6.0% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 583,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,899,000 after buying an additional 32,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 152.4% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 53,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,112,000 after buying an additional 32,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

NYSE:WLKP traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.37. 24,939 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 26,337. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.02 and its 200-day moving average is $20.54. The firm has a market cap of $788.54 million, a PE ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.57. Westlake Chemical Partners has a twelve month low of $17.75 and a twelve month high of $23.82.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $323.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.00 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 4.17%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.4714 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.4%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 136.96%.

About Westlake Chemical Partners

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE: WLKP) is a publicly traded master limited partnership sponsored by Westlake Chemical Corporation. The partnership owns, operates and acquires a portfolio of ethylene and vinyl manufacturing assets throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. As a downstream producer of basic chemicals and intermediates, WLKP supplies key industrial feedstocks to customers in a variety of end markets.

WLKP’s operations are organized into two primary segments: olefins and vinyls.