Wealth Alliance Boosts Stock Position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Wealth Alliance increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,848 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WES. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter worth $27,000. Retirement Group LLC raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 52.4% in the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

NYSE WES opened at $34.65 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.04. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 12-month low of $24.89 and a 12-month high of $36.79. The firm has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 2.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 88.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WES. Citigroup lowered Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.96 per share, with a total value of $237,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,111,510.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Lisa A. Stewart acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,555.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth F. Owen bought 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.96 per share, with a total value of $237,720.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,111,510.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Western Midstream Partners 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.