Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Receives $61.69 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.77.

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen began coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $58.48 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies has a one year low of $40.41 and a one year high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mariner Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 83.3% in the second quarter. Mariner Investment Group LLC now owns 55,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 28,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 153.4% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 831 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 71.7% in the second quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Augustine Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 2.2% in the second quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,982 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.