Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on WES. Mizuho increased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James restated a market perform rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered Western Midstream Partners from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $31.55.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WES opened at $39.71 on Wednesday. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $25.69 and a one year high of $39.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.30 and a 200-day moving average of $33.35. The company has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $887.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $868.22 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 44.76% and a net margin of 42.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.81%. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.59%.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WES. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. American National Bank increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 40.2% in the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 1,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the 4th quarter worth $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

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.