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

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.88.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WES. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

NYSE WES traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $40.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,861,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,101,618. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.10. Western Midstream Partners has a 52 week low of $27.49 and a 52 week high of $42.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.09). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.99% and a return on equity of 46.02%. The firm had revenue of $883.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $924.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Western Midstream Partners's revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 6,228,448 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $238,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,597 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6,986.8% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 708,683 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $27,114,000 after acquiring an additional 698,683 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,785,105 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $68,298,000 after acquiring an additional 670,440 shares during the period. ING Groep NV boosted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 81.0% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 746,587 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $28,564,000 after purchasing an additional 334,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 322.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 406,587 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $15,556,000 after acquiring an additional 310,260 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% 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.