Citigroup Inc. Acquires 310,260 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 322.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 406,587 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 310,260 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.11% of Western Midstream Partners worth $15,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 287.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the second quarter valued at about $78,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 16.1% in the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 63.9% during the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,566 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Western Midstream Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.88.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of WES stock traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $39.63. 1,147,921 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,613,342. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 12-month low of $26.81 and a 12-month high of $42.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. The company's 50-day moving average price is $38.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 2.88.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $924.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Western Midstream Partners's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.83%. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.29%.

Western Midstream Partners Company 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.