Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Stock Rating Lowered by Morgan Stanley

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) was downgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $42.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.14% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on WES. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.25.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of WES stock opened at $39.57 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.50. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $25.71 and a one year high of $42.80. The firm has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $905.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.94 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 44.01% and a return on equity of 47.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American National Bank lifted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 34.5% in the first quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 48,760 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,937,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Belfer Management LLC raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Belfer Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 22,508 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $894,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Group LLC boosted its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 40.2% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.