Western Midstream Partners Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:WES)

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 16,925 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,566% compared to the typical volume of 1,016 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock 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 given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.64.

Insider Activity at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 price of $33.96 per share, with a total value of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 34.5% in the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 1.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 12,848 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 1.0% in the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 48,427 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,722,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 14.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,952 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

NYSE:WES traded up $0.12 on Monday, reaching $35.99. 1,092,668 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,236,356. The firm has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 2.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.44. Western Midstream Partners has a 12 month low of $24.89 and a 12 month high of $36.79.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The business had revenue of $858.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $850.23 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.72%. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 134.62%.

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.

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