Morningstar Investment Management LLC Trims Position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 30.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,006 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 12,102 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter worth $77,000. 84.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

WES stock traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.15. The company had a trading volume of 887,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,301,396. The company has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 2.88. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a twelve month low of $31.60 and a twelve month high of $43.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.16.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.875 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WES shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.88.

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.