Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,720,000 shares, a decline of 14.9% from the October 15th total of 4,370,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.
Several research firms have recently commented on WES. UBS Group upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, November 13th. Mizuho raised their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 11th. Capital One Financial upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 16th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Friday, September 25th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Western Midstream Partners currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.38.
Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $13.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. Western Midstream Partners has a 52-week low of $2.90 and a 52-week high of $22.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 3.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.15 and a 200 day moving average of $9.19.
Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks' consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $679.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.20 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 14.99% and a return on equity of 32.94%. The company's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.311 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 29th. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.99%.
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WES. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 83.4% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 320,105 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,038,000 after acquiring an additional 145,604 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,321,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 217.8% during the first quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,689,887 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $37,876,000 after purchasing an additional 8,011,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 287,469 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,886,000 after buying an additional 42,821 shares during the last quarter. 34.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Western Midstream Partners
Western Midstream Partners, LP, together with its subsidiaries, engages in gathering, processing, compressing, treating, stabilizing, and transporting natural gas, condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil primarily in the United States. It is also involved in gathering and disposing of produced water; and buying and selling of natural gas, NGLs, and condensate.
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