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

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.2143.

A number of research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $60.80 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.66. The stock has a market cap of $74.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.Williams Companies’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.90, for a total transaction of $123,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 297,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,418,035.50. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 104.8% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.