Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $58.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Williams Companies traded as high as $61.55 and last traded at $61.43, with a volume of 1939576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.60.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC increased their target price 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 target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. 111 Capital bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $456,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 315,936 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $17,098,000 after purchasing an additional 95,835 shares during the period. Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $249,000. Finally, Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $952,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $74.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

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.