Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $98.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Williams Companies traded as high as $79.59 and last traded at $79.3180, with a volume of 8359458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.69.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.00.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 117,869 shares of company stock worth $8,814,067 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a PE ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.37.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Williams Companies Company Profile

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.