Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 30.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 461,365 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 108,021 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.12% of Western Midstream Partners worth $18,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WES. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Western Midstream Partners by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 22,809,161 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $876,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,362 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Western Midstream Partners by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,273,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $279,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366,341 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Western Midstream Partners by 624.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 785,096 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,171,000 after purchasing an additional 676,729 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in Western Midstream Partners by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,404,381 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $53,971,000 after purchasing an additional 637,266 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter worth $19,079,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company's stock.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE WES traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $38.76. 591,701 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,226,541. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 52-week low of $33.60 and a 52-week high of $43.33. The firm has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.83.

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.