Brokerages Set Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) PT at $63.07

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.0667.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $63.92 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $58.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.82. The company has a market capitalization of $77.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $44.78 and a 1 year high of $64.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chapin Davis Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 10,955 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.2% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,177 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.7% in the second quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,823 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.2% in the first quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.