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

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

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.62.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $47.49 on Friday. 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 one year low of $36.90 and a one year high of $48.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.68.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.08. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 29.44% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.8%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 116.98%.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in 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. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 936,376 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,163,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,696,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

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.