66,543 Shares in Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Bought by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 66,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,557,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WES. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 287.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 84.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. US Capital Advisors raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group dropped 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.88.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WES opened at $41.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 2.88. 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $40.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.17.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 payout ratio is currently 89.29%.

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.