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

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $52.07.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC raised their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped 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.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $54.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $55.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.40. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 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.