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

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.77.

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

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $60.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $73.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $38.63 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.51.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.1% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 104,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $432,000. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,747 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Welch & Forbes LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $431,000. Hedge funds and other 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.