Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

WES has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.25.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

WES opened at $46.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.09. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $36.90 and a one year high of $48.63.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.13 billion. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 34.79% and a net margin of 29.44%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 98.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,446,475 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $215,136,000 after buying an additional 2,696,439 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 106.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,005,252 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $118,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,401 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 8,539,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $337,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,991 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 9,562,213 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $377,707,000 after acquiring an additional 936,376 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the fourth quarter worth about $28,268,000. 84.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.