Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Position Lifted by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) by 2,065.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,190 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners were worth $685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in the 3rd quarter worth about $218,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 20,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 6,043 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 43,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $954,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 537,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,685,000 after buying an additional 45,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 595,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,944,000 after buying an additional 25,123 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th.

Westlake Chemical Partners Stock Up 0.3 %

WLKP stock opened at $21.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.94, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Westlake Chemical Partners LP has a fifty-two week low of $20.86 and a fifty-two week high of $23.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.13. The stock has a market cap of $772.90 million, a PE ratio of 14.25 and a beta of 1.08.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 6.25% and a net margin of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $297.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.62 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Westlake Chemical Partners LP will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Andrew Kenner acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.12 per share, with a total value of $221,200.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,609 shares in the company, valued at $3,021,791.08. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have bought a total of 24,230 shares of company stock valued at $537,587 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.