Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $61.77.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Seven Post Investment Office LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,879,000. Carr Financial Group Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $229,000. Evanson Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $203,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 533,268 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $33,495,000 after purchasing an additional 132,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northside Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $825,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.43. The company had a trading volume of 6,101,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,110,680. The firm has a market cap of $71.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $63.45. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $59.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

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.