Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Given New $37.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) had its target price decreased by UBS Group from $40.00 to $37.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.88.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $38.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 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 12 month low of $26.81 and a 12 month high of $42.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.62.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $883.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $924.83 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 42.99% and a return on equity of 46.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.21%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is 89.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WES. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 23.5% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 6,228,448 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $238,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,597 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6,986.8% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 708,683 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $27,114,000 after purchasing an additional 698,683 shares during the period. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 81.0% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 746,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,564,000 after purchasing an additional 334,187 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 322.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 406,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,556,000 after purchasing an additional 310,260 shares during the period. Finally, Blackstone Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 2.0% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 12,980,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $461,465,000 after purchasing an additional 259,928 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.