Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WES. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. US Capital Advisors raised Western Midstream Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.89.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WES opened at $47.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $36.90 and a one year high of $50.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $47.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.56.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 29.44% and a return on equity of 33.13%. The business’s revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. Analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 116.98%.

Insider Activity at Western Midstream Partners

In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Frederick Forthuber purchased 5,140 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $48.62 per share, for a total transaction of $249,906.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,906.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $377,707,000 after purchasing an additional 936,376 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,268,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,499,691 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $59,238,000 after purchasing an additional 443,950 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,623,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $103,646,000 after purchasing an additional 391,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkley W R Corp boosted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 42.8% during the 1st quarter. Berkley W R Corp now owns 1,266,970 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $52,161,000 after purchasing an additional 379,807 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

Western Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:WES) is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops midstream energy assets. The company provides gathering, processing, treating, compression, transportation and storage services for natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids and produced water.

Western Midstream’s infrastructure includes gathering systems, processing plants, pipelines, compressor stations, treatment facilities, storage assets and water-handling systems.