Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Given Consensus Rating of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.83.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WES shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

NYSE:WES traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.16. 924,531 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,232,925. Western Midstream Partners has a 12 month low of $33.60 and a 12 month high of $43.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.00 and a 200 day moving average of $39.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market cap of $14.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.09.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $917.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $926.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Western Midstream Partners's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WES. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 33,824,487 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,385,451,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400,891 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,417,770 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,000,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608,609 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,273,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $279,509,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366,341 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 624.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 785,096 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,171,000 after acquiring an additional 676,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,404,381 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $53,971,000 after acquiring an additional 637,266 shares in the last quarter. 84.82% 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.