Wall Street Zen Upgrades Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) to “Buy”

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WES. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.25.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:WES opened at $48.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The business has a fifty day moving average of $47.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.36. The stock has a market cap of $20.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.69. Western Midstream Partners has a 52-week low of $36.90 and a 52-week high of $50.07.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.13% and a net margin of 29.44%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Midstream Partners

In related news, Director Frederick Forthuber purchased 5,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $48.62 per share, for a total transaction of $249,906.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,906.80. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 77.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,769 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,828 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 59.9% during the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 9,922 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 3,717 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 8.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 71,977 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,150,000 after acquiring an additional 5,393 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Western Midstream Partners by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 98,294 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,301,000 after purchasing an additional 12,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Midstream Partners in the second quarter worth approximately $132,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:WES) is a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns, operates and develops midstream energy assets. The company provides gathering, processing, treating, compression, transportation and storage services for natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids and produced water.

Western Midstream’s infrastructure includes gathering systems, processing plants, pipelines, compressor stations, treatment facilities, storage assets and water-handling systems.