Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Share Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP)’s stock price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.67 and traded as high as $23.15. Westlake Chemical Partners shares last traded at $23.1150, with a volume of 28,472 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.25. The stock has a market cap of $812.76 million, a PE ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 3.57, a current ratio of 3.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). Westlake Chemical Partners had a net margin of 4.69% and a return on equity of 7.15%. The firm had revenue of $305.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $522.00 million. On average, research analysts expect that Westlake Chemical Partners LP will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th were given a dividend of $0.4714 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.2%. Westlake Chemical Partners’s payout ratio is currently 115.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Westlake Chemical Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WLKP. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.8% during 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 buying an additional 8,424 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $12,899,000 after buying an additional 32,863 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the second quarter valued at about $387,000. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 19.4% during the second quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 37,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 45.8% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

About Westlake Chemical Partners

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.