Insider Selling: Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Chairman Sells $81,770.00 in Stock

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Chairman James Chao sold 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.10, for a total transaction of $81,770.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

James Chao also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 28th, James Chao sold 4,600 shares of Westlake Chemical Partners stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.10, for a total transaction of $101,660.00.
• On Tuesday, May 27th, James Chao sold 5,608 shares of Westlake Chemical Partners stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.17, for a total transaction of $124,329.36.

Westlake Chemical Partners Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of WLKP opened at $22.16 on Monday. Westlake Chemical Partners LP has a twelve month low of $21.19 and a twelve month high of $25.04. The company has a market cap of $780.72 million, a P/E ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 4.53, a quick ratio of 4.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.40.

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

Westlake Chemical Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a $0.4714 dividend. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. Westlake Chemical Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Westlake Chemical Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 24,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 103,390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,387,000 after buying an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 45,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.28% of the company’s stock.

Westlake Chemical Partners Company Profile

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.