Western Midstream Partners, LP (WES) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 30th

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of 0.875 per share by the pipeline company on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58.

Western Midstream Partners has raised its dividend payment by an average of 17.1% per year over the last three years. Western Midstream Partners has a payout ratio of 65.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Western Midstream Partners to earn $3.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.3%.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Up 2.1 %

WES stock opened at $35.38 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.10. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $24.89 and a fifty-two week high of $36.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $13.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 2.83.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WES. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research raised Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lowered Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.64.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, Director Kenneth F. Owen acquired 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,111,510.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,111,510.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 5.2% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,492 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 6.4% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 11,853 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 12.8% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 9,172 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the first quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. 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.