Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Releases Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The pipeline company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.54, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $3.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $71.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,017,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,170,534. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $56.19 and a 12 month high of $80.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.28. The company has a market cap of $87.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 28th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,260,130. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $92.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.06.

Williams Companies Company Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1908 as Williams Brothers, the company has evolved from an early pipeline contractor into a major operator of natural gas infrastructure in the United States.

Williams primarily gathers, processes, transports and stores natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its assets include interstate and regional pipelines, gas processing and fractionation facilities, storage operations, and gathering systems that connect producers with utilities, industrial customers, power generators and other energy markets.