Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Reaches New 12-Month High at $42.00

Shares of Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $42.00 and last traded at $41.94, with a volume of 547795 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WES. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.50.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $15.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $887.73 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $868.22 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 44.76% and a net margin of 42.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st were issued a $0.875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.43%. This is a boost from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.59%.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WES. NBW Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 322,010 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,422,000 after purchasing an additional 64,370 shares in the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter worth $1,521,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Western Midstream Partners during the first quarter worth $1,967,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,260,436 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $36,880,000 after buying an additional 89,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Western Midstream Partners by 104.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 58,015 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,698,000 after buying an additional 29,637 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.