Mizuho Initiates Coverage on Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES)

Investment analysts at Mizuho started coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock. Mizuho’s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.49% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.44. 56,356 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,430,120. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Western Midstream Partners has a 1 year low of $36.90 and a 1 year high of $48.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.65.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.89% and a net margin of 29.98%.Western Midstream Partners’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 35,074,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,385,437,000 after buying an additional 299,631 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,292,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $954,450,000 after acquiring an additional 81,183 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $377,707,000 after acquiring an additional 936,376 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 8,539,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $337,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $300,257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

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.