The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.77.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after buying an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 319.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.65 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $57.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.58. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $38.76 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $71.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.