Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) Increases Dividend to $0.47 Per Share

Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, January 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.4714 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from Westlake Chemical Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47.

Westlake Chemical Partners has a payout ratio of 81.8% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities 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 Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WLKP traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.58. 16,953 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,838. 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 is $23.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $866.20 million, a PE ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.10. Westlake Chemical Partners has a one year low of $21.19 and a one year high of $24.60.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.15. Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 5.40%. The business had revenue of $277.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Westlake Chemical Partners will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

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.