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

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th.

Williams Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 8 consecutive years. Williams Companies has a payout ratio of 93.1% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. 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 Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $37.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $28.27 and a 52-week high of $39.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.70 and its 200 day moving average is $35.97. The company has a market cap of $46.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. US Capital Advisors cut Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.