Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Director Acquires $50,237.50 in Stock

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Director Robert Phillips acquired 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $40.19 per share, for a total transaction of $50,237.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 5,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,846.24. This represents a 30.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of WES stock traded up $0.14 on Thursday, reaching $40.73. 1,236,453 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,450,547. The company has a market cap of $16.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. Western Midstream Partners, LP has a 1 year low of $33.60 and a 1 year high of $44.74.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.44). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 30.52% and a return on equity of 33.14%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.33%.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WES. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 35,074,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,385,437,000 after acquiring an additional 299,631 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,292,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $954,450,000 after purchasing an additional 81,183 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $377,707,000 after purchasing an additional 936,376 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 8,539,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $337,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter worth about $300,257,000. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WES has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.43.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: WES) is a midstream energy infrastructure company that owns, operates and develops an integrated network of crude oil, natural gas and produced water gathering, processing, transportation and storage assets in the United States. The partnership’s primary offerings include pipeline transportation, fractionation services, natural gas liquids (NGL) logistics and produced water handling. Through its fee-based and commodity-based contracts, Western Midstream provides its customers with essential services that support efficient energy production and distribution.

The company’s asset portfolio spans key onshore basins, including the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado.