Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Hits New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $53.07 and last traded at $53.01, with a volume of 328209 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $52.14.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 81.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Williams Companies Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $67.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.40 and its 200 day moving average is $44.14.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $647,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 32,741 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,495,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.4% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 267,416 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,208,000 after purchasing an additional 3,796 shares during the last quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 16.1% in the third quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 135,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,166,000 after purchasing an additional 18,747 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 10.1% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 844,464 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $38,550,000 after purchasing an additional 77,253 shares during the last quarter. 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.