Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Stock Now Rated “Buy” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $87.06.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, September 21st. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $86.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total value of $973,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,064.33. This represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,408,470. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,727,718 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $119,593,000 after acquiring an additional 302,258 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,139,269 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $281,352,000 after acquiring an additional 33,653 shares in the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 3,944 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 5.5%

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $64.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $80.16 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.62. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $57.50 and a 52 week high of $80.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.44.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 24.99% and a return on equity of 17.02%. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.38 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 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.68%.

Key Headlines Impacting Williams Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Williams reported record third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $2.04 billion, up 6% year over year, and reaffirmed its full-year outlook. It also completed the Momentum Midstream acquisition, expanding its Haynesville footprint to serve expected LNG, industrial and power demand. Q3 earnings call highlights Momentum Midstream acquisition
• Neutral Sentiment: Management sees potential for one or two additional power deals by year-end, but financing, permitting and the timing of earnings contributions remain considerations for investors. Power backlog and funding
• Negative Sentiment: Despite revenue beating expectations, reports said quarterly earnings missed estimates as costs rose 15%. That weaker earnings mix may have overshadowed operating growth and contributed to the negative reaction; a subsequent report described a further after-hours drop. Q3 earnings and costs After-hours share move

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1908 as Williams Brothers, the company has evolved from an early pipeline contractor into a major operator of natural gas infrastructure in the United States.

Williams primarily gathers, processes, transports and stores natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its assets include interstate and regional pipelines, gas processing and fractionation facilities, storage operations, and gathering systems that connect producers with utilities, industrial customers, power generators and other energy markets.