Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Receives $68.21 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.2143.

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.90, for a total transaction of $123,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 297,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,418,035.50. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $765,164,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 190.3% in the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,077,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,668,950 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 27.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $905,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $674,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,988 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $58.81 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.69. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $65.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.62.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

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.