Clearbridge Investments LLC Trims Stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,493,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,361,000 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $99,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,967,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter worth $1,550,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 174.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 417,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,835,000 after buying an additional 265,143 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,418,703 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $50,435,000 after acquiring an additional 44,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the second quarter worth $516,000. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WES opened at $38.47 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.72 and its 200 day moving average is $37.91. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 52 week low of $26.14 and a 52 week high of $42.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.87.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 44.01% and a return on equity of 47.19%. The firm had revenue of $905.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.875 dividend. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 98.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Western Midstream Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.75.

Insider Activity at Western Midstream Partners

In other Western Midstream Partners news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.