Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

NYSE:WLKP opened at $22.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.40. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 12 month low of $17.75 and a 12 month high of $24.58. The firm has a market cap of $780.08 million, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 2.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $323.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $313.00 million. Westlake Chemical Partners had a net margin of 4.17% and a return on equity of 5.99%. On average, analysts expect that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake Chemical Partners

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WLKP. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 228,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 8,424 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 6.0% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 583,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,899,000 after buying an additional 32,863 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Westlake Chemical Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $387,000. Finally, Energy Income Partners LLC grew its holdings in Westlake Chemical Partners by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 1,774,544 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,200,000 after buying an additional 24,459 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Westlake Chemical Partners Company Profile

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE: WLKP) is a publicly traded master limited partnership sponsored by Westlake Chemical Corporation. The partnership owns, operates and acquires a portfolio of ethylene and vinyl manufacturing assets throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. As a downstream producer of basic chemicals and intermediates, WLKP supplies key industrial feedstocks to customers in a variety of end markets.

WLKP’s operations are organized into two primary segments: olefins and vinyls.