Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Upgraded to “Peer Perform” at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup lowered Western Midstream Partners from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $30.64.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE WES opened at $34.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 2.83. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $24.89 and a one year high of $36.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $858.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.58% and a net margin of 32.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were paid a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,111,510.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 13.0% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 33,519,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $912,737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,855,558 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,746,835 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $564,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,520,712 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,140,481 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,970,000 after buying an additional 302,681 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,280,595 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $183,770,000 after buying an additional 802,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 14.2% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,012,565 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $126,417,000 after buying an additional 623,000 shares during the period. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.