StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP)

Research analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP – Get Rating) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “strong-buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Westlake Chemical Partners from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 18th.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

Westlake Chemical Partners stock opened at $21.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 3.60 and a current ratio of 3.67. Westlake Chemical Partners has a 52 week low of $18.58 and a 52 week high of $29.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $744.20 million, a P/E ratio of 11.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.89 and a 200-day moving average of $23.13.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 6.75% and a net margin of 4.03%. The company had revenue of $366.84 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Andrew Kenner bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.44 per share, with a total value of $107,200.00. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 65,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,393,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Westlake Chemical Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 550,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,926,000 after buying an additional 21,567 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 473,897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,137,000 after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 49.6% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 442,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,515,000 after purchasing an additional 146,705 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 351,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,269,000 after purchasing an additional 15,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,410 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 19,622 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.10% of the company’s stock.

About Westlake Chemical Partners

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Westlake Chemical Partners LP engages in the operation, acquisition and development of ethylene production facilities and related assets. It is also involved in the manufacture and marketing of basic chemicals, polymers, and fabricated building products. The company was founded on March 14, 2014 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.