StockNews.com Lowers Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) to Buy

StockNews.com cut shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $31.55.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:WES opened at $39.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $25.69 and a fifty-two week high of $39.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.35.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $887.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.22 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.50% and a return on equity of 44.76%. Western Midstream Partners’s revenue was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.81%. This is an increase from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is currently 98.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 13.0% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 33,519,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $912,737,000 after buying an additional 3,855,558 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 96.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,928,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $68,547,000 after buying an additional 944,494 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 27.4% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,165,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $148,095,000 after buying an additional 895,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,571,428 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $124,480,000 after buying an additional 622,108 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.