The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seventeen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.07.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 62,947 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,877 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 156,885 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $6,668,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,885 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 7.6% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,434 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE WMB traded down $0.64 on Thursday, reaching $53.96. The company had a trading volume of 3,230,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,394,852. The firm has a market cap of $65.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $60.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $55.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.13.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

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.