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

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.75.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 price target on Western Midstream Partners and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of WES stock opened at $42.80 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.70. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $36.90 and a fifty-two week high of $48.01.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.89% and a net margin of 29.98%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.7%. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is presently 121.57%.

Insider Activity at Western Midstream Partners

In related news, Director Robert G. Phillips purchased 1,250 shares of Western Midstream Partners stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $40.19 per share, for a total transaction of $50,237.50. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $212,846.24. The trade was a 30.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WES. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 3rd quarter worth $300,257,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 98.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,446,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $215,136,000 after buying an additional 2,696,439 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 106.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,005,252 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $118,707,000 after buying an additional 1,552,401 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 8,539,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $337,297,000 after buying an additional 1,163,991 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $377,707,000 after buying an additional 936,376 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: WES) is a midstream energy infrastructure company that owns, operates and develops an integrated network of crude oil, natural gas and produced water gathering, processing, transportation and storage assets in the United States. The partnership’s primary offerings include pipeline transportation, fractionation services, natural gas liquids (NGL) logistics and produced water handling. Through its fee-based and commodity-based contracts, Western Midstream provides its customers with essential services that support efficient energy production and distribution.

The company’s asset portfolio spans key onshore basins, including the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado.