Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.75.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WES opened at $39.79 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.87. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $26.49 and a one year high of $42.80.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $905.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.94 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 44.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Western Midstream Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 231,872 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,871,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 7.4% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 21,890 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $838,000 after buying an additional 1,502 shares during the last quarter. BWM Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,084,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 32,807 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SL Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. SL Advisors LLC now owns 24,177 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $925,000 after acquiring an additional 952 shares in the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.