Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Buys 93,543 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP $WES

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 6.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,584,975 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 93,543 shares during the period. Western Midstream Partners comprises approximately 1.8% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $65,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 10,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 30,784 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,817,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 8,540 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 15,453 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

NYSE WES opened at $43.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $43.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 52-week low of $36.90 and a 52-week high of $48.01.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 29.98% and a return on equity of 33.89%. Western Midstream Partners’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.5%. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WES shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Mizuho began coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

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.