The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.22.

WMB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of WMB opened at $38.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.95 and its 200 day moving average is $35.68. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $28.27 and a fifty-two week high of $39.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.93%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.52%.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.