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

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $42.00. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Williams Companies traded as high as $41.91 and last traded at $41.89, with a volume of 1612111 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.26.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. US Capital Advisors cut Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 109.1% in the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,800 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482,331 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $143,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679,452 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $56,223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $50.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.91 and its 200 day moving average is $37.20.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 79.83%.

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.