Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $58.00 to $70.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Williams Companies traded as high as $61.55 and last traded at $61.43, with a volume of 1939576 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.60.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WMB. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.07.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $74.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $57.25 and its 200-day moving average is $54.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

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.