Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $58.00 at Barclays

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $56.00 to $58.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.21.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $59.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.67 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $37.18 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $57.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $456,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 315,936 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $17,098,000 after buying an additional 95,835 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Pointe Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $222,000. Capstone Triton Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $249,000. Finally, Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $952,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.