Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Receives $30.75 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.64.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup lowered Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 19th.

Insider Activity at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, Director Lisa A. Stewart acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,111,510.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lisa A. Stewart acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,071,555.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WES. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 33,519,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $912,737,000 after purchasing an additional 3,855,558 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,746,835 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $564,936,000 after acquiring an additional 2,520,712 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,140,481 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,970,000 after purchasing an additional 302,681 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,280,595 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $183,770,000 after acquiring an additional 802,709 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Western Midstream Partners by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,012,565 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $126,417,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares in the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WES opened at $34.65 on Tuesday. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $24.89 and a fifty-two week high of $36.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 2.83.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The business had revenue of $858.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $850.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Western Midstream Partners’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $0.575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.64%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.46%.

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.