Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Given New $76.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target increased by Jefferies Financial Group from $71.00 to $76.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on WMB. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.64.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.2%

WMB stock opened at $68.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $83.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $68.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.21.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 293,545 shares in the company, valued at $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $498,700. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its stake in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 104.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.