ING Groep NV Purchases 334,187 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

ING Groep NV boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 81.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 746,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 334,187 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $28,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WES. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 177.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 34,043 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 21,765 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 10.2% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 13,372 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,809,814 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,339,000 after acquiring an additional 24,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 12,980,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $461,465,000 after acquiring an additional 259,928 shares during the period. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Western Midstream Partners stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $37.26. 474,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,233,742. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a fifty-two week low of $26.81 and a fifty-two week high of $42.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 2.88.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.09). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 46.02% and a net margin of 42.99%. The firm had revenue of $883.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.875 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WES shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.13.

Western Midstream Partners 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.