Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.88

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of 0.875 per share by the pipeline company on Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st.

Western Midstream Partners has raised its dividend by an average of 11.2% annually over the last three years. Western Midstream Partners has a payout ratio of 94.9% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings tumble. Research analysts expect Western Midstream Partners to earn $3.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 95.9%.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WES traded down $0.85 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $38.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 922,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,212,978. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.62 and a 200 day moving average of $38.22. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $26.49 and a twelve month high of $42.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.87.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $905.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.94 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 44.01%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Western Midstream Partners stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WES. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.38.

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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