Brokerages Set Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) PT at $36.75

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.75.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WES. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:WES opened at $39.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Western Midstream Partners has a 1 year low of $26.49 and a 1 year high of $42.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.57 and a 200-day moving average of $38.08.

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

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.875 dividend. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 98.59%.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WES. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,967,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $1,550,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 174.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 417,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $14,835,000 after purchasing an additional 265,143 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,418,703 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $50,435,000 after purchasing an additional 44,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $516,000. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by 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.