Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $39.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock.

WES has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $31.82.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WES opened at $41.15 on Wednesday. Western Midstream Partners has a 12-month low of $25.69 and a 12-month high of $41.73. The company has a market cap of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.90. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.13.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $887.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $868.22 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 44.76% and a net margin of 42.50%. The company’s revenue was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a $0.875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.51%. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American National Bank lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 34.5% in the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Belfer Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 4.4% in the first quarter. Belfer Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 40.2% in the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 12,848 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 1.0% in the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 48,427 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,722,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.