The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Receives $53.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.00.

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 115,450 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,907,000 after purchasing an additional 6,413 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 47,669 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,918 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,960 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 11,627 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 51,477 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 5,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 86,692 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $59.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.05. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $61.46.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.