Wall Street Zen Upgrades Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) to Buy

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.89.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:WES opened at $44.79 on Friday. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $36.90 and a twelve month high of $50.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frederick Forthuber acquired 5,140 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $48.62 per share, with a total value of $249,906.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,906.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,110 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Novem Group increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.9% during the second quarter. Novem Group now owns 15,843 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Bollard Group LLC raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 2.1% during the first quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 16,219 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 3.4% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 11,042 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 3.7% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,800 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: WES) is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure in the United States. The company provides services that connect oil and natural gas production with processing facilities, pipelines, storage systems and end markets.

Its operations include the gathering, processing, treating, transportation and storage of natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil. Western Midstream also provides gathering and disposal services for produced water, a byproduct of oil and gas production.