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

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.07.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % 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, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $30,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $54.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.