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

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. US Capital Advisors raised Western Midstream Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 35,074,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,385,437,000 after buying an additional 299,631 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 0.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,292,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $954,450,000 after buying an additional 81,183 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter valued at about $300,257,000. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $42.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. Western Midstream Partners has a 12 month low of $36.90 and a 12 month high of $48.01.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.89% and a net margin of 29.98%.Western Midstream Partners’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.8%. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 121.57%.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

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.