Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Given “Sector Perform” Rating at Scotiabank

Scotiabank restated their sector perform rating on shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $51.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.4 %

WMB stock opened at $55.61 on Friday. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $60.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $38,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently 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.