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

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.07.

A number of research firms recently commented on WMB. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $54.61 on Friday. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $37.18 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 686 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $236,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,071 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 53,795 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,215,000 after acquiring an additional 12,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centre Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 28,195 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% 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.