Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Monday, October 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 0.9%

WES stock opened at $39.93 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $33.60 and a fifty-two week high of $43.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.76.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.87. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 39.37% and a net margin of 35.18%.The company had revenue of $952.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $965.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is currently 107.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 19.2% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 14.0% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 258,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,600,000 after purchasing an additional 31,687 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 5.0% in the first quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 8,559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 25.9% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 8,405 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,417,770 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,000,152,000 after buying an additional 1,608,609 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

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.