The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on March 31st

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the pipeline company on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a 5.3% increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Williams Companies has increased its dividend by an average of 5.0% per year over the last three years. Williams Companies has a payout ratio of 85.1% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Williams Companies to earn $2.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 86.2%.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $54.96 on Wednesday. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $36.51 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,107,758 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Williams Companies stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 40.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $740,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

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.