Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Cut to Hold at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. CIBC lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $41.77.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $42.21 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.89. The firm has a market cap of $51.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.05. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $32.49 and a fifty-two week high of $45.10.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FineMark National Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 76.0% in the 2nd quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 12,433 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 5,368 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $4,050,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.2% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 58,085 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,469,000 after buying an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.0% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 126,985 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 9,381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 11,619 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.