Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Sets New 1-Year High at $46.82

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $46.82 and last traded at $46.82, with a volume of 1499 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.83. The company has a market cap of $57.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.83%.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 23,374 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $814,000 after buying an additional 9,428 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 17,305 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 4,632 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 181,789 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,332,000 after purchasing an additional 81,971 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,086 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,277,000 after purchasing an additional 10,132 shares during the period. Finally, Bollard Group LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 29,296 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is 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.