The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $56.07.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $56.24 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.43. 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 has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.67. The stock has a market cap of $68.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.73, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $968,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in Williams Companies by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is 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.