Evanson Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 18,097 Western Midstream Partners, LP $WES

Evanson Financial LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 18,097 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WES. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter worth about $5,455,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $377,707,000 after acquiring an additional 936,376 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,540,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $60,866,000 after purchasing an additional 270,000 shares during the last quarter. SageGuard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,777,000. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $2,695,000. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.6%

WES stock opened at $46.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.09. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a twelve month low of $36.90 and a twelve month high of $48.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.08. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 29.44% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 121.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WES has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.25.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: WES) is a midstream energy infrastructure company that owns, operates and develops an integrated network of crude oil, natural gas and produced water gathering, processing, transportation and storage assets in the United States. The partnership’s primary offerings include pipeline transportation, fractionation services, natural gas liquids (NGL) logistics and produced water handling. Through its fee-based and commodity-based contracts, Western Midstream provides its customers with essential services that support efficient energy production and distribution.

The company’s asset portfolio spans key onshore basins, including the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado.