CVR Partners (NYSE:UAN) versus Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) Critical Comparison

Westlake Chemical Partners (NYSE:WLKP) and CVR Partners (NYSE:UAN) are both small-cap materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, valuation and dividends.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Westlake Chemical Partners and CVR Partners”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Westlake Chemical Partners	$1.17 billion	0.65	$48.70 million	$1.63	13.21
CVR Partners	$606.04 million	2.18	$98.66 million	$15.16	8.26

CVR Partners has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Westlake Chemical Partners. CVR Partners is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Westlake Chemical Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Westlake Chemical Partners pays an annual dividend of $1.89 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.8%. CVR Partners pays an annual dividend of $24.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 19.4%. Westlake Chemical Partners pays out 116.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CVR Partners pays out 160.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CVR Partners has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. CVR Partners is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Westlake Chemical Partners and CVR Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Westlake Chemical Partners	0	0	1	0	3.00
CVR Partners	0	0	1	0	3.00

Volatility and Risk

Westlake Chemical Partners has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CVR Partners has a beta of 0.14, indicating that its share price is 86% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.3% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.8% of CVR Partners shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Westlake Chemical Partners shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of CVR Partners shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Westlake Chemical Partners and CVR Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Westlake Chemical Partners	4.66%	7.25%	4.63%
CVR Partners	23.67%	51.56%	15.70%

Summary

CVR Partners beats Westlake Chemical Partners on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. Westlake Chemical Partners GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. Westlake Chemical Partners LP was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

About CVR Partners

CVR Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and sale of nitrogen fertilizer products in the United States. The company offers ammonia products for agricultural and industrial customers; and urea ammonium nitrate products to agricultural customers, as well as retailers and distributors. CVR GP, LLC serves as the general partner of the company. CVR Partners, LP was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Sugar Land, Texas. CVR Partners, LP is a subsidiary of CVR Energy, Inc.