Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Given New $70.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $55.00 to $70.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WMB. Citigroup boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. CIBC raised 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.54.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $56.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $68.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $57.33. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.94 and its 200-day moving average is $45.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 109.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $57,220,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $817,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,158 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.