Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Upgraded by US Capital Advisors to “Moderate Buy” Rating

US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from a hold rating to a moderate buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on Western Midstream Partners from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a 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 $37.88.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:WES opened at $38.75 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.30 and a 200-day moving average of $38.70. The firm has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 2.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $26.81 and a twelve month high of $42.80.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.09). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.99% and a return on equity of 46.02%. The business had revenue of $883.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $0.875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.03%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 89.29%.

Institutional Trading of Western Midstream Partners

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 5,711 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,053 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted 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 valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. 42.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.