Hardy Reed LLC Boosts Stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Hardy Reed LLC increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,850 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 6,711,006 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $266,628,000 after purchasing an additional 37,259 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,184,597 shares in the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 75,145 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its position in Western Midstream Partners by 2.8% during the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,458,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,947,000 after acquiring an additional 39,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of WES stock opened at $38.75 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.30 and a 200 day moving average of $38.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 2.88. 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 announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 42.99% and a return on equity of 46.02%. The company had revenue of $883.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.03%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on WES shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.