Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $49.89

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.89.

WES has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Frederick Forthuber purchased 5,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.62 per share, for a total transaction of $249,906.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,906.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WES. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 3.7% in the third quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,710,098 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $75,877,000 after acquiring an additional 61,156 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $69,038,000 after purchasing an additional 136,000 shares during the period. Berkley W R Corp boosted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 42.8% in the first quarter. Berkley W R Corp now owns 1,266,970 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $52,161,000 after purchasing an additional 379,807 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,234,879 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $50,840,000 after purchasing an additional 77,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 39.0% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 902,585 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,159,000 after purchasing an additional 253,474 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $46.43 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.16. The company has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.74. Western Midstream Partners has a 1 year low of $36.90 and a 1 year high of $50.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is currently 116.98%.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:WES) is a master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure in the United States. The company provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and treating services for natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids and produced water.

Western Midstream’s assets include gathering systems, processing plants, pipelines, storage facilities and water-handling infrastructure. These facilities connect oil and gas producers with downstream markets and are generally supported by long-term commercial arrangements.