Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Analysts

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Reduce" from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.13.

WES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WES traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 769,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,270. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.42. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $26.81 and a one year high of $42.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.88.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $905.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.94 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 44.01% and a return on equity of 47.19%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $0.875 dividend. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Western Midstream Partners's payout ratio is presently 90.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 287.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the second quarter worth about $74,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the second quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 16.1% in the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.94% of the company's stock.

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.