Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.88

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) declared 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 9.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This is an increase from Western Midstream Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58.

Western Midstream Partners has raised its dividend by an average of 17.1% per year over the last three years. Western Midstream Partners has a payout ratio of 65.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 $2.30 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.3%.

Western Midstream Partners Price Performance

Shares of Western Midstream Partners stock opened at $35.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 2.83. Western Midstream Partners has a one year low of $24.89 and a one year high of $36.79.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $850.23 million. Western Midstream Partners had a return on equity of 33.58% and a net margin of 32.72%. Western Midstream Partners’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Western Midstream Partners

In other news, Director Lisa A. Stewart bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,555.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Lisa A. Stewart bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $34.87 per share, with a total value of $87,175.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 30,730 shares in the company, valued at $1,071,555.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 cost of $33.96 per share, for a total transaction of $237,720.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,111,510.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WES. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 6.4% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 11,853 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 30.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 67,177 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 15,616 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 10.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 261,945 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,606,000 after purchasing an additional 25,249 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 5.2% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,492 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Western Midstream Partners by 14.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,108,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $27,962,000 after purchasing an additional 136,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WES shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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. Citigroup lowered Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research upgraded Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Western Midstream Partners currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.