Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 24,898 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP $WES

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 222,847 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,898 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $8,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WES. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,525 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,878 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 23,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 39.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,003 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 7,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,172,000. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WES has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.75.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WES opened at $43.63 on Wednesday. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 52 week low of $36.90 and a 52 week high of $48.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.65. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 29.98% and a return on equity of 33.89%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.44 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This is an increase from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 121.57%.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

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.