Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $58.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $56.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

WMB has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price 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. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.21.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $59.60 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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 has a 12-month low of $37.18 and a 12-month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its 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%. Analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $575,103,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $190,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $273,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,906 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.