Jennison Associates LLC Has $26.03 Million Stake in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) by 61.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 677,205 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,069,042 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Western Midstream Partners were worth $26,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 42.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 108,367 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,146,000 after purchasing an additional 32,119 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 996,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $38,108,000 after purchasing an additional 60,603 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 293.1% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 29,878 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 22,277 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 322.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 406,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,556,000 after buying an additional 310,260 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 60.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,785,105 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $68,298,000 after buying an additional 670,440 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of WES opened at $40.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 12 month low of $27.84 and a 12 month high of $43.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 2.88.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $883.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.83 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.99% and a return on equity of 46.02%. Western Midstream Partners’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.59%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 89.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Monday, December 9th. US Capital Advisors upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped 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 report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.