The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Receives $50.38 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.38.

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 120.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $2.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.33. 8,173,907 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,253,484. The firm has a market cap of $67.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $55.79. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $48.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.55%.

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.