Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WES. Wall Street Zen cut Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Western Midstream Partners from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.89.

Western Midstream Partners Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE WES traded down $0.01 on Thursday, reaching $39.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,803,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,306,471. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.16. Western Midstream Partners has a 12-month low of $37.75 and a 12-month high of $50.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.75.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.14). Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.13% and a net margin of 29.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frederick Forthuber purchased 5,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $48.62 per share, for a total transaction of $249,906.80. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,140 shares in the company, valued at $249,906.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 37.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its holdings in Western Midstream Partners by 209.4% in the second quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 1,835 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MADDEN SECURITIES Corp acquired a new stake in Western Midstream Partners in the third quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.82% of the company’s stock.

About Western Midstream Partners

Western Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:WES) is a master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream energy infrastructure in the United States. The company provides gathering, processing, transportation, storage and treating services for natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids and produced water.

Western Midstream’s assets include gathering systems, processing plants, pipelines, storage facilities and water-handling infrastructure. These facilities connect oil and gas producers with downstream markets and are generally supported by long-term commercial arrangements.