Short Interest in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Declines By 19.8%

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,850,000 shares, a drop of 19.8% from the March 15th total of 7,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.75.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:WES traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $34.54. 935,868 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 968,696. The company's 50 day moving average is $33.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.86. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $24.89 and a twelve month high of $36.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 2.83.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were given a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.66%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 88.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kenneth F. Owen bought 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.96 per share, with a total value of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,111,510.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Lisa A. Stewart bought 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,555.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth F. Owen bought 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,111,510.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 33,519,544 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $912,737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,855,558 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,746,835 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $564,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520,712 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,140,481 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $325,970,000 after purchasing an additional 302,681 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,280,595 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $183,770,000 after purchasing an additional 802,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,012,565 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $126,417,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.94% of the company's stock.

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.