Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Sees Large Volume Increase Following Analyst Upgrade

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $39.00. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 671,039 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the previous session's volume of 1,227,281 shares.The stock last traded at $35.72 and had previously closed at $35.64.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WES. Wolfe Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American National Bank grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Belfer Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 4.4% during the first quarter. Belfer Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 40.2% during the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 3.7% during 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. 42.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $34.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.77. The firm has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 2.82.

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). The company had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.58% and a net margin of 32.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.875 dividend. This is an increase 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 yield of 9.83%. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio is currently 134.62%.

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.