The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $39.99 and last traded at $39.89, with a volume of 966804 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.06.
The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis.
Williams Companies Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 72.52%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut shares of Williams Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.22.
View Our Latest Research Report on Williams Companies
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 22,683 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 17,883 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company increased its stake in Williams Companies by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,116 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co increased its stake in Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.
Williams Companies Price Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $47.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $38.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.06.
About Williams Companies
(
Get Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider Williams Companies, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Williams Companies wasn't on the list.
While Williams Companies currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Click the link below and we'll send you MarketBeat's guide to investing in electric vehicle technologies (EV) and which EV stocks show the most promise.
Get This Free Report
