Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $42.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WES. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Western Midstream Partners from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $36.75.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Performance

Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $38.97 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 2.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. Western Midstream Partners has a fifty-two week low of $26.14 and a fifty-two week high of $42.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.61.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.09. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 47.19% and a net margin of 44.01%. The company had revenue of $905.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Western Midstream Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.98%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Midstream Partners

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WES. American National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. grew its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 0.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Belfer Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Belfer Management LLC now owns 9,957 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 1.9% during the second 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. Finally, Retirement Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. 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.