Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Reaches New 1-Year High at $45.81

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $45.81 and last traded at $45.77, with a volume of 7165859 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $45.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.83.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.6 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.83%.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $306,417,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.7% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,221,000 after buying an additional 14,672 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 145.5% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 95,359 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,716,000 after acquiring an additional 56,509 shares during the last quarter. ETF Store Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 28,444 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $991,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,636,222 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $91,820,000 after acquiring an additional 518,009 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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