ING Groep NV Purchases 334,187 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 81.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 746,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 334,187 shares during the period. ING Groep NV owned 0.20% of Western Midstream Partners worth $28,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WES. Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Fractal Investments LLC raised 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 valued at $56,078,000 after buying an additional 75,145 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 9,082.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,365 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 18,165 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 30.2% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 103,883 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,127,000 after buying an additional 24,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted 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 acquiring an additional 120,202 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WES. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America began coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.13.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Up 1.3 %

WES stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $37.26. 474,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,233,742. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a one year low of $26.81 and a one year high of $42.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a PE ratio of 9.47, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 2.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.53.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.09). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.99% and a return on equity of 46.02%. The firm had revenue of $883.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.875 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s 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.