Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on WMB. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. US Capital Advisors downgraded Williams Companies from an overweight rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $41.42.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.6 %

WMB opened at $42.50 on Wednesday. Williams Companies has a one year low of $31.98 and a one year high of $43.22. The company has a market cap of $51.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.57.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 109.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 35.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,331 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $143,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $56,223,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.