Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)’s share price reached 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.69.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 117,869 shares of company stock worth $8,814,067 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $740,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Williams Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $35,734,000 after buying an additional 11,926 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 160.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,366,000 after buying an additional 101,574 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.4%

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

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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