HighTower Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,008 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,409 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $3,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 42.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 108,367 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after acquiring an additional 32,119 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 6.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 996,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $38,108,000 after buying an additional 60,603 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 293.1% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 29,878 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after buying an additional 22,277 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 322.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 406,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,556,000 after buying an additional 310,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 60.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,785,105 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $68,298,000 after buying an additional 670,440 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WES has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.43.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:WES opened at $41.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.41. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 12-month low of $33.64 and a 12-month high of $43.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.875 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is presently 86.85%.

About Western Midstream Partners

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.