Williams Companies’ (WMB) “Underperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research reiterated their underperform rating on shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Wolfe Research currently has a $34.00 price objective on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $38.90.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $37.58 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $45.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77. Williams Companies has a one year low of $28.27 and a one year high of $39.76. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.06%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 72.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.5% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,414 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 3,924 shares in the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,036,000. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 166,534 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 54,072 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,769 shares during the period. Finally, Vicus Capital acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.