The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Receives $60.50 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.50.

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.06. The stock had a trading volume of 15,271,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,678,933. The stock's 50 day moving average is $58.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.12. The firm has a market cap of $73.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.82, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $40.06 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. This represents a 28.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $149,326,000 after buying an additional 108,675 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,636 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $319,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,463 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.