Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Western Midstream Partners from hold to buy, adding to a wave of mixed analyst opinions on the stock.
• Recent analyst actions include higher price targets from UBS and Wells Fargo, along with buy/outperform calls from Stifel Nicolaus and Mizuho. Overall, MarketBeat shows a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $45.38.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.85 versus $0.74 expected and revenue of $1.12 billion, up 22.5% year over year. Shares were down slightly on the day, trading around $44.65.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 price objective on Western Midstream Partners and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.38.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.5%

WES traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.65. 807,572 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 913,710. Western Midstream Partners has a 1 year low of $36.90 and a 1 year high of $48.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.68.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.89% and a net margin of 29.98%.The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The business's revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the third quarter worth approximately $300,257,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 98.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,446,475 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $215,136,000 after buying an additional 2,696,439 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 106.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,005,252 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $118,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,552,401 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 8,539,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $337,297,000 after buying an additional 1,163,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $377,707,000 after acquiring an additional 936,376 shares during the period. 84.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

Western Midstream Partners, LP NYSE: WES is a midstream energy infrastructure company that owns, operates and develops an integrated network of crude oil, natural gas and produced water gathering, processing, transportation and storage assets in the United States. The partnership's primary offerings include pipeline transportation, fractionation services, natural gas liquids (NGL) logistics and produced water handling. Through its fee-based and commodity-based contracts, Western Midstream provides its customers with essential services that support efficient energy production and distribution.

The company's asset portfolio spans key onshore basins, including the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado.

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