Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.62 EPS

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The pipeline company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.62, Briefing.com reports. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.58% and a net margin of 32.72%. The business had revenue of $887.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WES traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.12. 982,885 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,251,673. Western Midstream Partners has a twelve month low of $25.04 and a twelve month high of $36.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.89. The company has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01 and a beta of 2.82.

Western Midstream Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.875 per share. This is a positive change from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.69%. Western Midstream Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 134.62%.

Insider Activity

In other Western Midstream Partners news, Director Lisa A. Stewart acquired 2,500 shares of Western Midstream Partners stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,555.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Lisa A. Stewart acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth F. Owen acquired 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup downgraded 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 note on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. 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 note on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Western Midstream Partners from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Western Midstream Partners presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.09.

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.