Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 price objective on Western Midstream Partners and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.00.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

WES opened at $46.07 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.76 and a 200-day moving average of $40.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 0.70. Western Midstream Partners has a 12-month low of $36.90 and a 12-month high of $46.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 121.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert G. Phillips acquired 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $40.19 per share, for a total transaction of $50,237.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WES. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter worth $300,257,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 98.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 106.9% during the fourth 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 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, 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. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.