Traders Buy Large Volume of Williams Companies Call Options (NYSE:WMB)

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 75,195 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 711% compared to the average volume of 9,276 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.25.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $60.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,715,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,771,826. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $40.41 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67. The company has a market capitalization of $73.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $58.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Williams Companies's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.