Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Western Midstream Partners to “Hold” from “Buy,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $49.89.
• Western Midstream reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, earning $0.99 per share versus the $0.91 estimate and generating $1.22 billion in revenue, up 30% year over year.
• The stock opened at $47.16, near its 12-month high of $50.07, while institutional investors own a substantial 84.82% of outstanding shares.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WES. US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.89.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Up 0.0%

Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $47.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.55. Western Midstream Partners has a 12 month low of $36.90 and a 12 month high of $50.07.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 29.44% and a return on equity of 33.13%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frederick Forthuber bought 5,140 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $48.62 per share, with a total value of $249,906.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $249,906.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.9% during 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 936,376 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,623,943 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $103,646,000 after purchasing an additional 391,000 shares during the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 8.8% during the first quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,676,900 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $69,038,000 after purchasing an additional 136,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 6.3% during the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,584,975 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $65,253,000 after purchasing an additional 93,543 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Western Midstream Partners

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.

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