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

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP - Get Free Report) 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 8.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 Stock Down 0.8 %

WLKP stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 36,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,680. The company has a market capitalization of $786.36 million, a PE ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.52. 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 has a 12 month low of $21.16 and a 12 month high of $23.68.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $284.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.28 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 4.78%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Andrew Kenner bought 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.99 per share, for a total transaction of $275,880.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 182,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,191,260.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders purchased 16,119 shares of company stock worth $369,340 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barclays raised Westlake Chemical Partners to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th.

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.