Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Research Coverage Started at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $55.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.25.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:WES opened at $48.98 on Thursday. Western Midstream Partners has a 52-week low of $36.90 and a 52-week high of $50.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.34. The company has a market capitalization of $20.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.69.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.08. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 29.44% and a return on equity of 33.13%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, Director Frederick Forthuber bought 5,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $48.62 per share, with a total value of $249,906.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,906.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 98.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,446,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $215,136,000 after buying an additional 2,696,439 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 106.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,005,252 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $118,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,401 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $337,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,991 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $377,707,000 after purchasing an additional 936,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter valued at $28,268,000. 84.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

Western Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:WES) is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops midstream energy assets. The company provides gathering, processing, treating, compression, transportation and storage services for natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids and produced water.

Western Midstream’s infrastructure includes gathering systems, processing plants, pipelines, compressor stations, treatment facilities, storage assets and water-handling systems.