Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 112,200 shares, a decline of 15.6% from the February 28th total of 133,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 38,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Westlake Chemical Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 267.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,437 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 71,615 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,874,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 27,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

WLKP opened at $23.12 on Tuesday. Westlake Chemical Partners has a fifty-two week low of $21.19 and a fifty-two week high of $25.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.90 and a 200 day moving average of $23.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.46 and a current ratio of 4.53. The firm has a market cap of $814.55 million, a P/E ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 1.09.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.07. Westlake Chemical Partners had a net margin of 5.40% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The firm had revenue of $290.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.00 million. On average, research analysts expect that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.4714 dividend. This is an increase from Westlake Chemical Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.21%.

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.