Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Western Midstream Partners, with six hold, two buy and two strong-buy ratings. The average 12-month price target is $48.13.
• Western Midstream exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.99 EPS versus the $0.91 consensus and $1.22 billion in revenue, up 30% year over year.
• The partnership pays a quarterly dividend of $0.93 per share, representing a 7.5% annualized yield; institutional investors own 84.82% of outstanding shares.

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.1250.

WES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, US Capital Advisors raised Western Midstream Partners from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, Director Frederick Forthuber acquired 5,140 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $48.62 per share, for a total transaction of $249,906.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $249,906.80. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 98.1% during 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 106.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,005,252 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $118,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,401 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,163,991 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 936,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the 4th quarter worth $28,268,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company's stock.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE WES opened at $49.53 on Tuesday. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $36.90 and a fifty-two week high of $50.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $20.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.69. The business's 50 day moving average price is $47.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.16.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.13 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.13% and a net margin of 29.44%.Western Midstream Partners's revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.98%.

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.

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