Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.88 Per Share

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.875 per share by the pipeline company on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58.

Western Midstream Partners has increased its dividend payment by an average of 17.1% annually over the last three years. Western Midstream Partners has a payout ratio of 65.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Western Midstream Partners to earn $3.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.3%.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Up 2.1 %

WES stock opened at $35.38 on Friday. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $24.89 and a one year high of $36.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 2.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.77 and a 200-day moving average of $30.10.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.58% and a net margin of 32.72%. The firm had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $850.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on WES shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.64.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WES. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 14.2% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,012,565 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $126,417,000 after purchasing an additional 623,000 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 6.4% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,345,798 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $202,887,000 after purchasing an additional 500,806 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,205,446 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $35,271,000 after purchasing an additional 458,454 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 26.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,748,051 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,096,000 after purchasing an additional 370,555 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 233.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 426,301 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,751,000 after purchasing an additional 298,439 shares during the period. 42.94% of the stock is currently 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.