Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Increases Stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 6,986.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 708,683 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 698,683 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned approximately 0.19% of Western Midstream Partners worth $27,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WES. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 287.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at $74,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 16.1% in the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter worth $86,000. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 0.3 %

WES opened at $40.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The firm has a market cap of $15.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 2.90. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 12 month low of $26.81 and a 12 month high of $42.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.84.

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

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.875 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is presently 89.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. US Capital Advisors raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com lowered Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.88.

About Western Midstream Partners

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.