Westlake Chemical Partners LP (WLKP) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 13th

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.4714 per share by the basic materials company on Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th.

Westlake Chemical Partners has a dividend payout ratio of 88.7% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Westlake Chemical Partners to earn $1.70 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.89 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 111.2%.

Westlake Chemical Partners Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of WLKP opened at $22.94 on Friday. Westlake Chemical Partners has a twelve month low of $21.19 and a twelve month high of $25.04. The stock has a market cap of $808.38 million, a PE ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 4.46, a current ratio of 4.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.39.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.24). Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 5.40%. The firm had revenue of $237.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $296.00 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Westlake Chemical Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

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.