Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.55.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE WES opened at $39.73 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.39. Western Midstream Partners has a 52-week low of $25.69 and a 52-week high of $39.95. The firm has a market cap of $15.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.62. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.50% and a return on equity of 44.76%. The business had revenue of $887.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.81%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 16.0% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 11,429 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 13.1% in the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 143,450 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after purchasing an additional 16,650 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.7% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 34,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.7% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 2,953,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $104,997,000 after purchasing an additional 77,942 shares in the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.