Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Shares Sold by Morningstar Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP by 52.5%, now holding 13,301 shares worth $545,000 after selling 14,705 shares.
• Mizuho downgraded the target price of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $44.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating, amidst mixed ratings from analysts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, with a dividend yield of 8.90%, although its payout ratio stands at 108.66%.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 52.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,301 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 14,705 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WES. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,353 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 7,155 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 227,107 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,728,000 after buying an additional 32,628 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 93,977 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,612,000 after buying an additional 2,409 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 142,877 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,491,000 after buying an additional 10,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,809,161 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $876,556,000 after buying an additional 1,406,362 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Mizuho reduced their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.83.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of WES stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.38. The stock had a trading volume of 650,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,144,036. The business's fifty day moving average is $38.97 and its 200-day moving average is $39.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market cap of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.08. 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, 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 firm had revenue of $917.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $926.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.2%. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 108.66%.

Western Midstream Partners 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.