Analyzing Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) & Nissan Chemical (OTCMKTS:NNCHY)

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) and Nissan Chemical (OTCMKTS:NNCHY) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Westlake Chemical Partners and Nissan Chemical, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake Chemical Partners	0	2	0	0	2.00
Nissan Chemical	0	1	0	0	2.00

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Westlake Chemical Partners and Nissan Chemical”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake Chemical Partners	$1.17 billion	0.68	$48.70 million	$1.38	16.32
Nissan Chemical	$1.65 billion	3.40	$284.08 million	$2.29	18.17

Nissan Chemical has higher revenue and earnings than Westlake Chemical Partners. Westlake Chemical Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nissan Chemical, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Westlake Chemical Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.89 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. Nissan Chemical pays an annual dividend of $0.57 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays out 137.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Nissan Chemical pays out 24.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Westlake Chemical Partners and Nissan Chemical’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake Chemical Partners	4.17%	5.99%	3.74%
Nissan Chemical	17.07%	19.08%	13.77%

Volatility and Risk

Westlake Chemical Partners has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nissan Chemical has a beta of -0.13, suggesting that its stock price is 113% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.3% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Nissan Chemical beats Westlake Chemical Partners on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. Westlake Chemical Partners GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. Westlake Chemical Partners LP was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About Nissan Chemical

Nissan Chemical Corporation engages in the chemicals, performance materials, agricultural chemicals, and pharmaceuticals businesses in Japan and internationally. The company provides high purity chemicals; AdBlue, an urea solution; ammonia, sulfuric, and nitric acid, as well as concrete and civil engineering-related products; TEPIC, an epoxy compound; Melamine Cyanurate, a salt of melamine and iso cyanuric acid; TEPIC-VL, a liquid epoxy compound; TEPIC-FL, a liquid epoxy material; FOLDI-E101, an epoxy reactive diluent; Ecopromote, a nucleating agents for PLA; Nissan Reishi, a health food; phenylphosphonic acid; HI-LITE, a chlorinated isocyanulate; OPTBEADS, a melamine-formaldehyde resin and silica; and FINEOXOCOL, a saturated fatty alcohol and acid. It also offers performance materials comprising display, semiconductor, and inorganic materials; agricultural chemicals, such as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc. for use on agricultural land, as well as in golf courses and parks; and drug substances for antiparasite drugs for animals. In addition, the company provides pharmaceutical products, such as LIVALO, a antihypercholesterolemic agent; LANDEL and FINTE, a long-acting calcium channel blocker; APIs and intermediaries; and manufacturing and process researching services for pharmaceutical ingredients. Further, it develops healthcare, information and communication materials, and environmental and energy materials. The company was formerly known as Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd. and changed its name to Nissan Chemical Corporation in July 2018. Nissan Chemical Corporation was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.