Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) Raises Dividend to $0.88 Per Share

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.875 per share by the pipeline company on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58.

Western Midstream Partners has raised its dividend payment by an average of 17.1% annually over the last three years. Western Midstream Partners has a dividend payout ratio of 100.3% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Western Midstream Partners to earn $3.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 99.4%.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $35.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Western Midstream Partners has a 52 week low of $24.89 and a 52 week high of $36.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 2.83.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $858.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, Director Kenneth F. Owen bought 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 32,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,111,510.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lisa A. Stewart bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth F. Owen bought 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,111,510.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Wolfe Research raised Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.64.

Western Midstream Partners Company Profile

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.