Comparing Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) and Sumitomo Chemcl (OTCMKTS:SOMMY)

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

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sumitomo Chemcl	$15.47 billion	0.39	$402.25 million	$2.11	8.50
Westlake Chemical Partners	$1.23 billion	0.61	$48.70 million	$1.63	13.02

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

78.3% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Sumitomo Chemcl has a beta of 0.45, indicating that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Westlake Chemical Partners has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sumitomo Chemcl	4.52%	8.37%	3.07%
Westlake Chemical Partners	4.66%	7.25%	4.63%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Sumitomo Chemcl and Westlake Chemical Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sumitomo Chemcl	0	1	0	0	2.00
Westlake Chemical Partners	0	1	1	0	2.50

Westlake Chemical Partners has a consensus price target of $26.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.47%. Given Westlake Chemical Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Westlake Chemical Partners is more favorable than Sumitomo Chemcl.

Dividends

Sumitomo Chemcl pays an annual dividend of $0.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.9%. Sumitomo Chemcl pays out 13.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Westlake Chemical Partners pays out 115.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Westlake Chemical Partners beats Sumitomo Chemcl on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sumitomo Chemcl

Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited engages in Chemicals & Plastics, energy and functional materials, IT-related chemicals, health and crop sciences, pharmaceuticals, and other businesses worldwide. Its Essential Chemicals & Plastics segment offers synthetic resins, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polymethyl methacrylate resins; raw materials for synthetic fibers; and various industrial chemicals. The company's Energy & Functional Materials segment provides alumina and aluminum products used for energy products; resorcinol for tires, wood adhesives, flame retardants, and ultraviolet ray absorbants; polymer additives and rubber chemicals; synthetic rubber for tires, shoes, construction materials, and other applications; and engineering plastics and lithium-ion secondary battery materials for use in electronic components and next-generation vehicles. Its IT-Related Chemicals segment provides polarizing films, touch screen sensor panels, and color resists and polymer OLED for LC and OLED displays; photoresists and high-purity chemicals for the semiconductor manufacturing process; and compound semiconductor materials for antenna switches and other components of communication terminal equipment. The company's Health & Crop Sciences segment offers crop protection chemicals, fertilizers, feed additives, and household insecticides; active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates; and products to control infectious diseases. Its Pharmaceuticals segment provides prescription and diagnostic pharmaceuticals. The company's Others segment supplies electric power and steam; designs, constructs, and supervises chemical plants; provides transportation and warehousing services; and conducts physical property and environmental analysis. Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited was founded in 1913 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

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.