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

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) was upgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.64.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:WES opened at $35.38 on Thursday. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $24.89 and a twelve month high of $36.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.10. The company has a market cap of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 2.83.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Retirement Group LLC grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 52.4% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.