Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WES. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.75.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of WES traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.09. 559,671 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,233,217. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $38.65 and a 200-day moving average of $37.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $26.40 and a one year high of $42.80. The firm has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.87.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $905.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.94 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 44.01%. Western Midstream Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Midstream Partners

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’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 owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the 4th quarter worth $248,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 270,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,900,000 after buying an additional 69,000 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Index Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Index Solutions LLC now owns 250,866 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,340,000 after purchasing an additional 25,601 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,550,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter worth $82,000. 42.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.