Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James restated a market perform rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a buy rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $31.55.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of WES stock opened at $38.02 on Tuesday. Western Midstream Partners has a 12 month low of $25.47 and a 12 month high of $39.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 2.85. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.83.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $887.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.22 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.50% and a return on equity of 44.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. On average, 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a $0.875 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.21%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 98.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WES. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 10.7% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 51,698 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 4,992 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 640.7% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 173,293 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,719,000 after acquiring an additional 149,897 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 25.5% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 93,344 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,542,000 after purchasing an additional 18,983 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,473,000. Finally, Knollwood Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,197,000. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.