Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WES. Morgan Stanley cut Western Midstream Partners from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $36.75.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of WES stock opened at $39.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $38.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.19. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $26.49 and a twelve month high of $42.80. The company has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.09. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 44.01% and a return on equity of 47.19%. The firm had revenue of $905.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.88%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is presently 98.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Western Midstream Partners news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American National Bank lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 48,760 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Belfer Management LLC lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Belfer Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 22,508 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Group LLC lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 40.2% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.