Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $68.2143.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Cibc World Mkts raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Mizuho upgraded Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $60.47 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.71. The stock has a market cap of $73.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. 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 3.3%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 103.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,319,101.85. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.