Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Sees Large Volume Increase After Analyst Upgrade

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $39.00. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 671,039 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the previous session’s volume of 1,227,281 shares.The stock last traded at $35.72 and had previously closed at $35.64.

WES has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup cut Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.09.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Lisa A. Stewart acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,555.10. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Lisa A. Stewart acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth F. Owen bought 7,000 shares of Western Midstream Partners stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.96 per share, with a total value of $237,720.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,111,510.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WES. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.0% in the first quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 127,095 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,518,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,165,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $148,095,000 after acquiring an additional 895,715 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,967,000. Belfer Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Belfer Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 96.0% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,928,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $68,547,000 after acquiring an additional 944,494 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.86. The company has a market cap of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 2.82.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.58% and a net margin of 32.72%. The company had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $850.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Western Midstream Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.86%. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 134.62%.

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.