Invesco Ltd. Sells 80,000 Shares of Westlake Chemical Partners LP $WLKP

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners by 1.5%, selling 80,000 shares, leaving it with approximately 5.2 million shares, which represents around 14.75% of the company valued at $120 million.
• Westlake Chemical Partners reported an EPS of $0.41 for the latest quarter, missing expectations of $0.44, with revenues of $297.12 million against a predicted $301 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4714 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 8.6%, despite a notably high dividend payout ratio of 126.85%.

Invesco Ltd. decreased its stake in Westlake Chemical Partners LP (NYSE:WLKP - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,198,512 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 80,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 14.75% of Westlake Chemical Partners worth $120,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fractal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the first quarter worth about $1,856,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $456,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 35,136 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 4,253 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 558,919 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,933,000 after acquiring an additional 28,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Westlake Chemical Partners by 1.6% during the first quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 103,390 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Westlake Chemical Partners Stock Up 0.3%

WLKP stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.99. 11,502 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 34,232. The firm's 50 day moving average is $22.12 and its 200 day moving average is $22.84. Westlake Chemical Partners LP has a twelve month low of $21.19 and a twelve month high of $25.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $774.91 million, a P/E ratio of 14.76 and a beta of 0.78.

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.03). Westlake Chemical Partners had a return on equity of 6.38% and a net margin of 4.78%.The firm had revenue of $297.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.00 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Westlake Chemical Partners LP will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Westlake Chemical Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.4714 per share. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 12th. Westlake Chemical Partners's dividend payout ratio is 126.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Westlake Chemical Partners from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman James Chao sold 5,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.17, for a total transaction of $124,329.36. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 8,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,011. This represents a 40.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,908 shares of company stock worth $307,759. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.