Analysts Set The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Target Price at $55.07

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.07.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $300,000. XML Financial LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 127.1% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,712 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 14,389 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 28,922 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 70.1% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 62,692 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after buying an additional 25,828 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $56.08 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.37. The stock has a market cap of $68.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $36.56 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, research analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

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.