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

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.25.

WES has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. US Capital Advisors upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Western Midstream Partners from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $47.59 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $44.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.68. 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 stock has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.68. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $36.90 and a fifty-two week high of $48.63.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 29.98% and a return on equity of 33.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is presently 121.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WES. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 35,074,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,385,437,000 after purchasing an additional 299,631 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 0.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,292,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $954,450,000 after purchasing an additional 81,183 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position 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 during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its position 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 during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position 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 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.