UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Stock Price

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. UBS Group’s target price indicates a potential downside of 4.00% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on WES. Morgan Stanley cut Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.88.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Up 2.0 %

WES stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.54. 188,791 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,233,888. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.52. Western Midstream Partners has a 1-year low of $26.81 and a 1-year high of $42.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $14.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.88.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 46.02% and a net margin of 42.99%. The company had revenue of $883.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Western Midstream Partners’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted 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 buying an additional 1,184,597 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 81.0% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 746,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,564,000 after purchasing an additional 334,187 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 322.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 406,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,556,000 after purchasing an additional 310,260 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 12,980,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $461,465,000 after buying an additional 259,928 shares during the period. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 10.1% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.