Western Midstream Partners, LP $WES Shares Acquired by Empirical Finance LLC

Key Points

• Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 86.8% in the first quarter, buying 205,421 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 442,189 shares worth about $18.2 million.
• Western Midstream Partners reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 and revenue of $1.12 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations; revenue also rose 22.5% year over year.
• The company declared a $0.93 quarterly dividend, implying an annualized yield of 7.8%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold” with a target price of $46.25.

Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 86.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 442,189 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 205,421 shares during the period. Western Midstream Partners comprises about 0.9% of Empirical Finance LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC owned about 0.11% of Western Midstream Partners worth $18,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bollard Group LLC increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 16,219 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at about $654,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 3.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,295 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. Militia Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $8,244,000. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 74.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 23,452 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.7%

WES stock opened at $47.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.68. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a one year low of $36.90 and a one year high of $48.63.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.89% and a net margin of 29.98%.The business's revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.47 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. US Capital Advisors raised Western Midstream Partners from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 price objective on Western Midstream Partners and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.25.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, LP NYSE: WES is a midstream energy infrastructure company that owns, operates and develops an integrated network of crude oil, natural gas and produced water gathering, processing, transportation and storage assets in the United States. The partnership's primary offerings include pipeline transportation, fractionation services, natural gas liquids (NGL) logistics and produced water handling. Through its fee-based and commodity-based contracts, Western Midstream provides its customers with essential services that support efficient energy production and distribution.

The company's asset portfolio spans key onshore basins, including the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado.

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