Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Short Interest Down 16.2% in December

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,180,000 shares, a drop of 16.2% from the November 30th total of 6,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its holdings 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 valued at $238,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,597 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 698,683 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 670,440 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its position in Western Midstream Partners by 81.0% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 746,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,564,000 after purchasing an additional 334,187 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 310,260 shares during the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WES traded down $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $39.06. The stock had a trading volume of 217,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,640. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Western Midstream Partners has a 1-year low of $27.49 and a 1-year high of $42.80. The stock has a market cap of $14.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.96, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.01.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $883.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.83 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 46.02% and a net margin of 42.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $0.875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.96%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 89.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WES shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.88.

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.