Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $37.73, but opened at $36.81. Western Midstream Partners shares last traded at $36.83, with a volume of 145,774 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WES has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.13.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.56 and its 200 day moving average is $38.42.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $905.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.94 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 44.01% and a return on equity of 47.19%. The company’s revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.875 dividend. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.21%.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WES. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the first quarter worth $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 287.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the second quarter worth $74,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the second quarter worth $78,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 16.1% during the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. 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.