Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $37.73, but opened at $36.81. Western Midstream Partners shares last traded at $36.83, with a volume of 145,774 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Western Midstream Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America began coverage on Western Midstream Partners in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.13.

Western Midstream Partners Stock Down 2.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $13.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 2.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $905.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $904.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Western Midstream Partners, LP will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Western Midstream Partners Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.875 per share. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.21%.

Insider Transactions at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Western Midstream Partners 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Western Midstream Partners

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WES. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Western Midstream Partners by 6.2% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,053 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Fractal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 1,465,706 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $56,078,000 after acquiring an additional 75,145 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 287.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 142,882 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,467,000 after acquiring an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Western Midstream Partners in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Institutional investors own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

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.