The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Receives $39.22 Average Target Price from Brokerages

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.22.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted 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. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $38.66 on Friday. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $28.27 and a 12 month high of $39.76. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.76. The stock has a market cap of $47.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 72.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Rheos Capital Works Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 660,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $22,988,000 after buying an additional 245,000 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 107,609 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,625,000 after buying an additional 23,579 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Williams Companies by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 45.3% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $220,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 3,338.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 352,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,264,000 after purchasing an additional 341,863 shares in the last quarter. 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.