Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.62 EPS

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The pipeline company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.62, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $887.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.22 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. Western Midstream Partners's revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of WES stock traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $36.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,190,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,831. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 2.82. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $25.04 and a one year high of $36.79. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $34.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.86.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.875 per share. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.61%. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 134.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WES. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut Western Midstream Partners from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.09.

Insider Activity at Western Midstream Partners

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

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.