Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Shares Acquired by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 983,685 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 115,336 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $28,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 26,363 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 12,848 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,952 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Western Midstream Partners by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 30,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WES. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.64.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of WES opened at $35.95 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 2.83. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 52-week low of $24.89 and a 52-week high of $36.79.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.875 per share. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.46%.

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.