Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Given New $52.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target lifted by Truist Financial from $42.00 to $52.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $53.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.19 and a 200-day moving average of $44.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. Williams Companies has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $53.30. The company has a market capitalization of $64.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 81.55%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 141,508 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,460,000 after buying an additional 1,427 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $322,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,873,473 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $131,174,000 after buying an additional 38,594 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.