Nicholas Wealth LLC. Purchases Shares of 21,640 Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Key Points

• Nicholas Wealth LLC has invested $886,000 in Western Midstream Partners, purchasing 21,640 shares as of the first quarter, reflecting interest in the pipeline sector.
• Western Midstream Partners' recent earnings report showed a decline in earnings per share at $0.79, falling short of analyst expectations of $0.83.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, providing an annualized yield of 8.93%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 108.66%.

Nicholas Wealth LLC. bought a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 21,640 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $886,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 133.3% in the 1st quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 700 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.82% of the company's stock.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE WES traded up $0.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $40.87. 299,782 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,143,114. The firm has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $38.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a fifty-two week low of $33.60 and a fifty-two week high of $43.33.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 38.52%. The company had revenue of $917.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $926.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Western Midstream Partners's payout ratio is currently 108.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.83.

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.