Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $42.00. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Williams Companies traded as high as $41.91 and last traded at $41.89, with a volume of 1612111 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.26.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. US Capital Advisors lowered Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 5.9% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $817,736,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175,628 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,086,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $643,015,000 after buying an additional 712,048 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 8.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,455,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $486,991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,150 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,628,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $459,148,000 after acquiring an additional 921,537 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $403,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039,703 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $50.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

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.