Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Monday, October 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $39.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.74. Western Midstream Partners has a 12 month low of $33.60 and a 12 month high of $43.33.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87. The firm had revenue of $952.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $965.55 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 35.18% and a return on equity of 39.37%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.3%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2,725.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 367,330 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,046,000 after acquiring an additional 354,329 shares during the period. Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the second quarter worth approximately $310,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in Western Midstream Partners by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 509,737 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $20,879,000 after purchasing an additional 13,269 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 472,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $18,283,000 after buying an additional 11,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 258,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,600,000 after buying an additional 31,687 shares during the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.