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

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.25.

WMB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. US Capital Advisors lowered Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $41.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $30.22 and a 1-year high of $41.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The business’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 79.83%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 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.