Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Receives $40.50 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.00.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WES shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 target price on Western Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Monday, October 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $38.67 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $33.60 and a fifty-two week high of $43.33. The company has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.14.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.87. The company had revenue of $952.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $965.55 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 37.70% and a net margin of 34.45%.Western Midstream Partners’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.69%.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WES. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,875 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 2,356 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 41,654 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 1.6% during the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,113 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Western Midstream Partners by 2.1% during the first quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 139,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,702,000 after purchasing an additional 2,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pavion Blue Capital LLC purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at about $206,000. 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.