Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

WES has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $34.38.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

NYSE WES opened at $37.76 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $25.69 and a twelve month high of $42.80. The company has a market capitalization of $14.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.87.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 44.01% and a return on equity of 47.19%. The business had revenue of $905.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.27%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is currently 98.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Western Midstream Partners news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WES. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the second quarter worth approximately $694,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $397,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,244,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the 2nd quarter valued at about $205,000. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.