Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 8,776 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers has increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners, LP by 18%, bringing its total ownership to 57,576 shares valued at approximately $2.36 million.
• Western Midstream Partners' average target price is currently $39.83, with mixed ratings from analysts, including two sell ratings and three hold ratings.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 9.6%, although its payout ratio stands high at 108.66%.

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 18.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,576 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,776 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $2,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 133.3% during the 1st quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 700 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, RE Dickinson Investment Advisors LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Mizuho dropped their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.80.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.95. 483,996 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,173,805. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 1-year low of $33.60 and a 1-year high of $43.33. The company has a market cap of $14.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 1.13. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $39.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.21.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $942.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.17 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 37.70% and a net margin of 34.45%. Western Midstream Partners's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Western Midstream Partners's payout ratio is 112.00%.

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.