Citigroup Inc. Acquires 310,260 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 322.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 406,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 310,260 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $15,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WES. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 34,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 11,429 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 1st quarter valued at about $323,000. Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC now owns 64,266 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 6,711,006 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $266,628,000 after purchasing an additional 37,259 shares during the period. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE WES opened at $39.65 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.27 and its 200 day moving average is $38.72. 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, LP has a 12 month low of $26.81 and a 12 month high of $42.80. The stock has a market cap of $15.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 2.88.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.09). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 46.02% and a net margin of 42.99%. The firm had revenue of $883.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.83 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.83%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is currently 89.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WES. StockNews.com cut Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley cut Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America began coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.88.

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.