Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Short Interest Update

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 55,478 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 2.7% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 27,216 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Westlake Chemical Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Westlake Chemical Partners by 267.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,437 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 71,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted 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. 78.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Chemical Partners Trading Down 2.2 %

Westlake Chemical Partners stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 90,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,576. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.53 and a quick ratio of 4.46. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 12 month low of $21.19 and a 12 month high of $25.04. The stock has a market cap of $806.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.93.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $290.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.00 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 5.40%. As a group, analysts forecast that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.4714 per share. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Westlake Chemical Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Westlake Chemical Partners's dividend payout ratio is 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.