The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.38.

Several research firms recently commented on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 141,508 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $322,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,873,473 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $131,174,000 after acquiring an additional 38,594 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE WMB opened at $53.05 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $48.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.06. Williams Companies has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $53.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $64.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

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.