Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.55.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of WES opened at $39.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.30 and a 200 day moving average of $33.39. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $25.69 and a twelve month high of $39.95.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $887.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $868.22 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.50% and a return on equity of 44.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.875 per share. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.81%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 98.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. American National Bank lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 40.2% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter worth $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

About Western Midstream Partners

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.