The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.42.

Several equities analysts recently commented on WMB shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of WMB opened at $42.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $32.20 and a 52-week high of $43.22. The firm has a market cap of $52.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.75 and its 200-day moving average is $37.70.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% during the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 26,166 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 84.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,912 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 10,976 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 56.3% in the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,446 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.