Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Receives $47.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.50.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WES opened at $49.83 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.68. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $36.90 and a fifty-two week high of $50.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.13% and a net margin of 29.44%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is presently 116.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frederick A. Forthuber bought 5,140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $48.62 per share, with a total value of $249,906.80. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,140 shares in the company, valued at $249,906.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,455,000. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its position in Western Midstream Partners by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 1,540,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $60,866,000 after buying an additional 270,000 shares during the last quarter. SageGuard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the 4th quarter valued at $1,777,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $377,707,000 after buying an additional 936,376 shares during the period. Finally, Militia Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the 1st quarter worth $8,244,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: WES) is a midstream energy infrastructure company that owns, operates and develops an integrated network of crude oil, natural gas and produced water gathering, processing, transportation and storage assets in the United States. The partnership’s primary offerings include pipeline transportation, fractionation services, natural gas liquids (NGL) logistics and produced water handling. Through its fee-based and commodity-based contracts, Western Midstream provides its customers with essential services that support efficient energy production and distribution.

The company’s asset portfolio spans key onshore basins, including the Delaware Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and Colorado, and the Denver-Julesburg Basin in Colorado.