StockNews.com Lowers Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) to Buy

StockNews.com cut shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $36.75.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WES opened at $38.97 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.61. The company has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Western Midstream Partners has a 52 week low of $26.14 and a 52 week high of $42.80.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.09. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 44.01%. The business had revenue of $905.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.875 dividend. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 98.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 96.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,928,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $68,547,000 after acquiring an additional 944,494 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,165,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $148,095,000 after purchasing an additional 895,715 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 174.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 417,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,835,000 after buying an additional 265,143 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 2.0% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 12,980,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $461,465,000 after buying an additional 259,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 708,256 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $20,724,000 after buying an additional 157,700 shares during the period. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

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.