Western Midstream (WES) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

Company Performance - Western Midstream (WES) closed at $40.14, reflecting a +1.7% change from the previous day's closing price, outperforming the S&P 500 which gained 0.14% [1] - Over the past month, WES shares appreciated by 1.65%, underperforming the Oils-Energy sector's gain of 2.89% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.97% [2] Earnings Expectations - The upcoming earnings report for Western Midstream is anticipated to show an EPS of $0.83, a decrease of 14.43% from the same quarter last year, with revenue expected to be $920.79 million, indicating a 1.67% growth year-over-year [3] - Full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $3.4 per share and revenue of $3.77 billion, representing year-over-year changes of -15.42% and +4.44%, respectively [4] Analyst Estimates and Valuation - Recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Western Midstream are crucial as they reflect short-term business trends, with positive revisions indicating optimism about the business outlook [4] - The Zacks Rank system, which includes estimate changes, currently ranks Western Midstream at 3 (Hold), with a consensus EPS projection having moved 0.1% higher in the past 30 days [6] - WES is currently traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.61, which is a discount compared to the industry average Forward P/E of 20.31 [7] Industry Context - The Oil and Gas - Refining and Marketing - Master Limited Partnerships industry, to which Western Midstream belongs, has a Zacks Industry Rank of 162, placing it in the bottom 35% of over 250 industries [7] - Research indicates that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1 [8]