Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $47.00 to $56.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Williams Companies traded as high as $52.11 and last traded at $52.05, with a volume of 641070 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $51.37.

WMB has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 115.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 565,663 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $25,823,000 after buying an additional 303,168 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2,955.2% during the third quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 278,974 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,735,000 after acquiring an additional 269,843 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 21,590 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 17.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 64,059 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,924,000 after acquiring an additional 9,561 shares during the period. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,709 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,976 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $45.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.55%.

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.