Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $37.73, but opened at $36.81. Western Midstream Partners shares last traded at $36.83, with a volume of 145,774 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Western Midstream Partners from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.13.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.87.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $905.63 million during 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%. Western Midstream Partners's revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 96.0% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,928,179 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $68,547,000 after purchasing an additional 944,494 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 27.4% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,165,829 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $148,095,000 after purchasing an additional 895,715 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 174.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 417,302 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $14,835,000 after purchasing an additional 265,143 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.0% in the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 12,980,724 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $461,465,000 after buying an additional 259,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its position in Western Midstream Partners by 10.1% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,315,472 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $50,330,000 after buying an additional 120,202 shares in the last quarter. 42.94% 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.