The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Receives $51.79 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.07.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $56.58 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $53.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.60. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. The company has a market cap of $68.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.