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

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research 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. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.07.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 7.5 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $54.61 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.95. The company has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $37.18 and a 52 week high of $61.67. 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 (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. 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.