Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Reaches New 52-Week Low at $28.17

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB – Get Rating)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $28.17 and last traded at $28.69, with a volume of 1173940 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $28.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Williams Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $39.00 in a report on Friday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.82.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 1.17.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.06. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.02% and a net margin of 18.69%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 27th. Investors of record on Monday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.4475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 10th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 126,370,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,617,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193,704 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 88,880,791 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,544,657,000 after acquiring an additional 393,245 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 96,588.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 63,423,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,086,641,000 after acquiring an additional 63,358,143 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 31,131,423 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,024,224,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112,024 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,242,720 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $894,796,000 after acquiring an additional 273,005 shares during the period. 85.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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The Williams Cos., Inc operates as an energy infrastructure company, which explores, produces, transports, sells and processes natural gas and petroleum products. It operates through the following segments: Transmission and Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, and West. The Transmission and Gulf of Mexico segment consists of interstate natural gas pipelines, the Transco and Northwest Pipelines, as well as natural gas gathering and processing and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.