Wolfe Research Upgrades Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) to “Peer Perform”

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James restated a market perform rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $30.64.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $34.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 2.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. Western Midstream Partners has a 12-month low of $24.89 and a 12-month high of $36.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.04.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.58% and a net margin of 32.72%. The firm had revenue of $858.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $850.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.64%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,555.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,111,510.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WES. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 11,853 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 67,177 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 15,616 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 261,945 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,606,000 after acquiring an additional 25,249 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,492 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,108,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $27,962,000 after acquiring an additional 136,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

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.