Williams Companies’ (WMB) “Underperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research reissued their underperform rating on shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $34.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $38.90.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of WMB opened at $37.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $45.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.05. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $28.27 and a 12-month high of $39.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.06%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 96,588.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 63,423,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,086,641,000 after purchasing an additional 63,358,143 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $292,176,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 85.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,352,215 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $546,327,000 after purchasing an additional 7,551,749 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 200.1% in the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,286,535 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $164,993,000 after purchasing an additional 3,525,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,746,505 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $443,961,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,187 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.