The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Declares $0.48 Quarterly Dividend

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of 0.475 per share by the pipeline company on Monday, June 24th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%.

Williams Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 8 years. Williams Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 93.1% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities research analysts expect Williams Companies to earn $2.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 94.1%.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.58 on Tuesday, hitting $38.63. 2,952,961 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,927,745. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.93.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.22.

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.