Truist Financial Raises Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $56.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target hoisted by Truist Financial from $52.00 to $56.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

WMB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. 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. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $56.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $68.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors 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.