UBS Group Cuts Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Price Target to $37.00

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

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Western Midstream Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.88.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Shares of WES traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.20. 2,520,789 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,496,285. The stock has a market cap of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $38.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.54. Western Midstream Partners has a 1 year low of $26.81 and a 1 year high of $42.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.09). The company 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%. Western Midstream Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 9.16%. Western Midstream Partners’s payout ratio is presently 89.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 287.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Western Midstream Partners during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the second quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 16.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp bought a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter worth $86,000. 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.