Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WES. Mizuho assumed coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $46.00 target price on Western Midstream Partners and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. One analyst has 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.38.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

NYSE WES traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.65. The stock had a trading volume of 807,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,710. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.18 and its 200 day moving average is $42.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $36.90 and a twelve month high of $48.01.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.89% and a net margin of 29.98%.The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 76.2% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 793 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

About Western Midstream Partners

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.