Kovack Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 12,075 Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP)

Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 12,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 595,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,944,000 after purchasing an additional 25,123 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.5% in the third quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 43,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $954,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 9.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 537,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,685,000 after buying an additional 45,515 shares during the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the third quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 20,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 6,043 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised Westlake Chemical Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th.

Westlake Chemical Partners Price Performance

Shares of WLKP opened at $21.89 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 3.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $22.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $771.18 million, a PE ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 1.08. Westlake Chemical Partners LP has a twelve month low of $20.86 and a twelve month high of $23.68.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.04). Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 6.25% and a net margin of 4.56%. The company had revenue of $297.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.62 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Westlake Chemical Partners LP will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Andrew Kenner purchased 10,000 shares of Westlake Chemical Partners stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.12 per share, for a total transaction of $221,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,609 shares in the company, valued at $3,021,791.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 24,230 shares of company stock worth $537,587. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.