HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 14.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 94,599 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 11,974 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $3,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WES. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 23.5% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 6,228,448 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $238,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,597 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 81.0% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 746,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,564,000 after buying an additional 334,187 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 322.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 406,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,556,000 after buying an additional 310,260 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 10.1% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,315,472 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $50,330,000 after purchasing an additional 120,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fractal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 1,465,706 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $56,078,000 after purchasing an additional 75,145 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WES shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America began coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, US Capital Advisors raised Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.88.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:WES opened at $38.83 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.87. The company has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 52-week low of $26.81 and a 52-week high of $42.80.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.09). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 46.02% and a net margin of 42.99%. The company had revenue of $883.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.01%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.29%.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

Western Midstream Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a midstream energy company primarily in the United States. It is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and transporting natural gas; gathering, stabilizing, and transporting condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil; and gathering and disposing produced water.