Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Boosts Position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,374,527 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,635 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned 0.36% of Western Midstream Partners worth $40,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 13.0% in the third 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 13.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,746,835 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $564,936,000 after buying an additional 2,520,712 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the second quarter worth $44,781,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,280,595 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $183,770,000 after acquiring an additional 802,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 14.2% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,012,565 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $126,417,000 after acquiring an additional 623,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WES has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

WES stock traded down $0.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,257,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,296,890. 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's fifty day moving average is $32.73 and its 200-day moving average is $29.70. The company has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 2.83. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 1 year low of $24.89 and a 1 year high of $36.79.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.58% and a net margin of 32.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.46%.

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.