Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Short Interest Down 12.0% in February

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 123,300 shares, a decrease of 12.0% from the January 31st total of 140,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 40,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 558,919 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,933,000 after purchasing an additional 28,430 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 45,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the fourth quarter valued at about $175,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the fourth quarter valued at about $456,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 35,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 4,253 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Chemical Partners Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of WLKP stock opened at $24.08 on Friday. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 52-week low of $21.19 and a 52-week high of $25.04. 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 capitalization of $848.38 million, a PE ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.16.

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

Westlake Chemical Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.4714 dividend. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 106.21%.

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.