Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WMB. Argus upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $41.42.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $42.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $51.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 1.05. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $30.90 and a 1-year high of $43.22.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.