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

Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.14.

Several equities analysts have commented on WES shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

WES opened at $39.11 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $38.64 and its 200-day moving average is $39.32. The stock has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 9.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.12. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $33.60 and a twelve month high of $43.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.99% and a return on equity of 46.02%. The company had revenue of $917.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $926.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is an increase from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WES. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,658,988 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $354,672,000 after buying an additional 149,833 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,428,847 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $304,286,000 after acquiring an additional 155,661 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 134,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,492,000 after buying an additional 29,192 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.2% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 34,485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, Samalin Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 5.3% during the first quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 29,720 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.82% 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.