Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $52.00. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Williams Companies traded as high as $53.07 and last traded at $53.01, with a volume of 328209 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $52.14.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.38.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $817,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $538,482,000 after acquiring an additional 144,713 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $410,064,000 after acquiring an additional 311,530 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 8,540,611 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $332,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $64.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

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.