US Capital Advisors Lowers Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) to Hold

US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from an overweight rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday, Zacks.com reports. US Capital Advisors also issued estimates for Williams Companies’ Q1 2024 earnings at $0.49 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $0.39 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.39 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $1.71 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.44 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.54 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.87 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.02 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an underperform rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $39.22.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.2 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $37.89 on Monday. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 72.52%.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,057,113 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $41,196,000 after acquiring an additional 10,193 shares during the period. TKG Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.3% in the first quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 61,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after buying an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 12.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,248,705 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $126,602,000 after buying an additional 351,779 shares in the last quarter. Horan Capital Advisors LLC. raised its position in Williams Companies by 2.4% during the first quarter. Horan Capital Advisors LLC. now owns 145,401 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,666,000 after purchasing an additional 3,451 shares during the period. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.