Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Stock Position in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its holdings in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,394 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 734 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $6,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the 1st quarter worth about $1,967,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,260,436 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $36,880,000 after buying an additional 89,444 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 104.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 58,015 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 29,637 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,550,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 174.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 417,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $14,835,000 after buying an additional 265,143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $38.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a twelve month low of $25.69 and a twelve month high of $42.80. The firm has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.98.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.875 per share. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WES has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.38.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.