Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $39.00. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the stock. 671,039 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the previous session’s volume of 1,227,281 shares.The stock last traded at $35.72 and had previously closed at $35.64.

WES has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup cut Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $33.96 per share, with a total value of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,111,510.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lisa A. Stewart bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth F. Owen bought 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,111,510.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 33,519,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $912,737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,855,558 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 13.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,746,835 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $564,936,000 after buying an additional 2,520,712 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,280,595 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $183,770,000 after buying an additional 802,709 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,571,428 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $124,480,000 after buying an additional 622,108 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,165,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $148,095,000 after acquiring an additional 895,715 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 0.4 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.96 and a 200-day moving average of $30.86. The company has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 2.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $858.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.86%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 134.62%.

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.