Mizuho Boosts Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $56.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target hoisted by Mizuho from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $55.44 on Monday. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $55.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $67.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.40 and a 200-day moving average of $44.14.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SouthState Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 120.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during 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.