Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on WES. Truist Financial began coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, September 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.89.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Up 1.8%

WES stock opened at $45.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.49 and its 200 day moving average is $44.88. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $36.90 and a one year high of $50.07.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.08. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 29.44% and a return on equity of 33.13%. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.2%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.98%.

Insider Activity at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, Director Frederick Forthuber bought 5,140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $48.62 per share, for a total transaction of $249,906.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,140 shares in the company, valued at $249,906.80. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 0.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,623,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $103,646,000 after buying an additional 391,000 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 8.8% in the first quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,676,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $69,038,000 after buying an additional 136,000 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6.3% in the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,584,975 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $65,253,000 after buying an additional 93,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkley W R Corp boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 42.8% during the first quarter. Berkley W R Corp now owns 1,266,970 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $52,161,000 after acquiring an additional 379,807 shares during the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: WES) is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure in the United States. The company provides services that connect oil and natural gas production with processing facilities, pipelines, storage systems and end markets.

Its operations include the gathering, processing, treating, transportation and storage of natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil. Western Midstream also provides gathering and disposal services for produced water, a byproduct of oil and gas production.