Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.75.

A number of research firms recently commented on WES. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,555.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of Western Midstream Partners stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,111,510.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lisa A. Stewart acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,071,555.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CFM Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 106.1% during the first quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 20,360 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 10,482 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 1st quarter worth about $284,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,418,703 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $50,435,000 after buying an additional 44,176 shares during the last quarter. True North Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,012,000. Finally, American National Bank lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 34.5% during the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of WES opened at $34.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 2.83. Western Midstream Partners has a 1 year low of $24.89 and a 1 year high of $36.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $33.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $850.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 88.46%.

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.