Monday, October 4, 2010

Western Gas (NYSE:WES) Retains "Overweight" from Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) reiterated an "Overweight" rating on Western Gas Partners LP (NYSE:WES), citing potential for organic growth.

Barclays analyst says, "Wattenberg field trip highlights strong drilling economics and midstream organic expansion potential: We came back from the Wattenberg field trip hosted by WES with a renewed confidence in our recommendation. The newly acquired Wattenberg systems should not only benefit from strong producer economics but also from Niobrara shale upside ... We believe some of the near-term organic expansion opportunities include expanding gathering footprint and adding capacity to the White Cliff crude pipeline," said Barclays.

Also via their subsidiary, Anadarko Wattenberg Company, Western increased their stake in the White Cliffs crude oil pipeline, acquiring a piece of the sale from SemGroup Corp., which sold a portion of its stake for $141 million.

That pushes Western's stake in the pipeline to 10 percent. Noble Energy (NYSE:NBL) increased their stake in White Cliff to 5 percent.

Western closed the week at $27.43, gaining $0.33 on the day, or 1.22 percent.

Barclays increased their price target on Western from $27 to $29.

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