D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,099 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 9,793 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in Western Midstream Partners by 133.3% during the first quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 700 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 555.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,180 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the first quarter valued at $72,000. 84.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Mizuho lowered their price objective on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.83.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of WES traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $38.76. 591,701 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,226,540. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a one year low of $33.60 and a one year high of $43.33. The firm has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.19 and a 200-day moving average of $39.27.

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

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.39%. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Western Midstream Partners's payout ratio is presently 108.66%.

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.