Moors & Cabot Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Western Midstream Partners, LP $WES

Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 209.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,226 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,398 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates purchased a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 86.1% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 908 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 84.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WES. Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 price objective on Western Midstream Partners and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.75.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Robert G. Phillips acquired 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $40.19 per share, with a total value of $50,237.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 5,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,846.24. This represents a 30.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

NYSE:WES opened at $42.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.70. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 52-week low of $36.90 and a 52-week high of $48.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.63 and a 200 day moving average of $41.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.89% and a net margin of 29.98%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 121.57%.

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.