Argus Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) received a "buy" rating from Argus with a target price of $66.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.11% from its current levels.
• Analyst ratings for Williams Companies are mixed, with nine "buy" ratings, six "hold" ratings, and one "sell" rating, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.46, missing estimates, while revenue reached $2.78 billion, reflecting a 19% year-over-year increase.

Argus reiterated their buy rating on shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $66.00 price target on the pipeline company's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.86.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE WMB traded down $0.92 on Thursday, reaching $56.54. The company had a trading volume of 5,812,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,776,474. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $43.96 and a 1-year high of $63.45. The company's fifty day moving average is $59.01 and its 200-day moving average is $58.31.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,718,333.60. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction 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. The trade was 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 $507,875. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 173,128 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $9,370,000 after buying an additional 7,249 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,379 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 264,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $14,326,000 after buying an additional 6,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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.