Western Midstream Partners, LP $WES Shares Sold by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 37.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,957 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 15,898 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $1,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 10,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 33,912 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Bollard Group LLC lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 15,517 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 22,956 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WES. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.71.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of WES stock opened at $40.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 52-week low of $35.25 and a 52-week high of $44.74.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 30.52% and a return on equity of 33.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 121.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher B. Dial sold 5,879 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.35, for a total value of $248,975.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 185,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,835,215.85. The trade was a 3.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert G. Phillips acquired 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $40.19 per share, with a total value of $50,237.50. Following the acquisition, the director owned 5,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $212,846.24. This trade represents a 30.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.