Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $41.77.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $43.10 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.84. The company has a market cap of $52.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.05. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $32.49 and a fifty-two week high of $45.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Autumn Glory Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the second quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 104,763 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,452,000 after buying an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the second quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 448,911 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $19,079,000 after buying an additional 14,165 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $236,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 35.5% during the second quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 7,157 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 1,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $217,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.