Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Receives $31.55 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.55.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research raised Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

NYSE:WES opened at $40.76 on Friday. Western Midstream Partners has a 1-year low of $25.69 and a 1-year high of $40.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.90.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $1.47 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $868.22 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.875 per share. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 30th. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 98.59%.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Comerica Bank increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 16.0% during the 1st 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 during the period. Castleark Management LLC increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 13.1% during the 1st 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 during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 34,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 2,953,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $104,997,000 after buying an additional 77,942 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

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.