Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) vs. Croda International (OTCMKTS:COIHY) Financial Review

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Croda International and Westlake Chemical Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Croda International	0	3	0	1	2.50
Westlake Chemical Partners	0	1	1	0	2.50

Volatility and Risk

Croda International has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its share price is 16% more 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.1% of Croda International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.3% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Croda International pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays out 114.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Croda International	N/A	N/A	N/A
Westlake Chemical Partners	4.69%	7.15%	4.57%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Croda International and Westlake Chemical Partners”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Croda International	$2.24 billion	2.47	$81.76 million	N/A	N/A
Westlake Chemical Partners	$1.23 billion	0.65	$48.70 million	$1.64	13.85

Croda International has higher revenue and earnings than Westlake Chemical Partners.

Summary

Westlake Chemical Partners beats Croda International on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Croda International

Croda International Plc engages in the consumer care, life science, and industrial specialty businesses in in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Asia, and Latin America. The company offers speciality and active ingredients across beauty care, beauty actives, and home care products, as well as fragrances and flavours. It also provides biologics drug delivery, adjuvant systems, small molecule, protein, and nucleic acid delivery platforms, as well as purity materials for pharmaceutical formulations. In addition, the company offers crop protection and seed enhancement related solutions. Croda International Plc was incorporated in 1925 and is headquartered in Goole, the United Kingdom.

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.