Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $55.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Williams Companies traded as high as $45.81 and last traded at $45.78, with a volume of 137033 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $45.53.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on WMB. StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% in the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the fourth 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. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 40.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $224,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,223,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.96 and a 200-day moving average of $41.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

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.