Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Given New $39.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Free Report) had its price target raised by Mizuho from $34.00 to $39.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company's stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James restated a market perform rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $31.09.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Western Midstream Partners stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $35.62. 1,702,910 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,239,146. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $34.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.82. The firm has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 2.82. Western Midstream Partners has a 1-year low of $25.04 and a 1-year high of $36.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $858.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.83%. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 134.62%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WES. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,441 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 2,266 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 98,215 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,674,000 after buying an additional 22,380 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 357,912 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,746,000 after buying an additional 48,962 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.6% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 26,363 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $725,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Western Midstream Partners

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.