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

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.2143.

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $60.93 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $74.41 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business’s revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.09%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $242,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,319,101.85. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,075,340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,358,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,156 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,077,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668,950 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.6% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,047,025,000 after acquiring an additional 932,998 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $913,840,000 after acquiring an additional 54,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,575,898 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $923,383,000 after purchasing an additional 158,077 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.