Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Given New $63.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.93.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $56.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $69.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.98. Williams Companies has a one year low of $35.74 and a one year high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.