Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP $WES

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP by 23.4%, owning 53,144 shares valued at $2.18 million after selling 16,222 shares in the first quarter.
• Western Midstream Partners announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 9.5%, despite a dividend payout ratio of 112%.
• Mizuho downgraded the target price for Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $44.00, while the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $39.80.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 23.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,144 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 16,222 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $2,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,833 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 4,564 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 133.3% in the first quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 700 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 5.0% in the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 8,559 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 1.6% in the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,113 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $39.80.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WES traded up $0.2950 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.5050. The stock had a trading volume of 892,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,432,039. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.05. The stock has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.13. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 1-year low of $33.60 and a 1-year high of $43.33.

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

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.5%. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.