Fractal Investments LLC Acquires 75,145 Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Fractal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,465,706 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 75,145 shares during the quarter. Western Midstream Partners accounts for about 9.5% of Fractal Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Fractal Investments LLC owned about 0.39% of Western Midstream Partners worth $56,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WES. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 12,980,724 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $461,465,000 after purchasing an additional 259,928 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 0.6% in the second quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 6,711,006 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $266,628,000 after buying an additional 37,259 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 27.4% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,165,829 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $148,095,000 after buying an additional 895,715 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.7% during the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 2,953,510 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $104,997,000 after acquiring an additional 77,942 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.4% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,809,814 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $64,339,000 after acquiring an additional 24,377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.94% of the company's stock.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WES traded up $0.77 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,516,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,194. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a one year low of $26.81 and a one year high of $42.80. The company has a market cap of $14.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $905.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $904.94 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 44.01%. The firm's revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.875 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Western Midstream Partners stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on WES shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.13.

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.