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

Western Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of 0.875 per share by the pipeline company on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 increased its dividend payment by an average of 17.1% per year over the last three years. Western Midstream Partners has a dividend payout ratio of 100.3% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities 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 %

NYSE WES opened at $35.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 2.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. Western Midstream Partners has a 12 month low of $24.89 and a 12 month high of $36.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.50 and a 200-day moving average of $30.44.

Western Midstream Partners (NYSE:WES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.04). Western Midstream Partners had a net margin of 32.72% and a return on equity of 33.58%. The company had revenue of $858.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $850.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Western Midstream Partners will post 3.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WES has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Western Midstream Partners from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Citigroup downgraded Western Midstream Partners from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Wolfe Research raised Western Midstream Partners from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Western Midstream Partners in a 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,111,510.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kenneth F. Owen purchased 7,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 32,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,111,510.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lisa A. Stewart purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.87 per share, for a total transaction of $87,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,555.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Western Midstream Partners

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.