Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 66,543 Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Howard Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 66,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 23.5% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 6,228,448 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $238,300,000 after buying an additional 1,184,597 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6,986.8% in the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 708,683 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $27,114,000 after buying an additional 698,683 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 60.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,785,105 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $68,298,000 after purchasing an additional 670,440 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 81.0% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 746,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,564,000 after purchasing an additional 334,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 322.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 406,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,556,000 after purchasing an additional 310,260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on WES shares. StockNews.com cut Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group cut their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.88.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

NYSE WES opened at $41.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 1-year low of $31.60 and a 1-year high of $43.33.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.875 dividend. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio 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.