The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Receives $53.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on WMB shares. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.06. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies 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 in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $231,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 138.5% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,510,000 after acquiring an additional 14,814 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 17,274 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $935,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 7,570 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.