Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Williams Companies, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from nineteen brokerages, with an average twelve-month price target of $66.73.
• Insiders have recently sold 8,500 shares, indicating a 1.3% decrease in their collective ownership, while institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, which represents a 3.2% yield, with a payout ratio of 100.50%.

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.7333.

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $497,715. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $765,164,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its position in Williams Companies by 190.3% during the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 45.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $677,623,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 27.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $905,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089,390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $62.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock's fifty day moving average is $60.14 and its 200 day moving average is $59.25. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $51.46 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.99 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.50%.

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.

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