The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.48 on December 30th

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 5th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of 0.475 per share by the pipeline company on Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th.

Williams Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.8% annually over the last three years. Williams Companies has a payout ratio of 90.0% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Williams Companies to earn $2.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 90.0%.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $55.33 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.40 and its 200 day moving average is $44.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $67.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.75, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.03. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $55.79.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its 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 net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America started coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective 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, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.