Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $90.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $89.00 to $90.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on WMB. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.62.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $70.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $80.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 83.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 18,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,402,755 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 261,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,689,000 after acquiring an additional 17,900 shares during the period. SIR Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 525,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $31,572,000 after purchasing an additional 150,032 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 164,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,912,000 after purchasing an additional 13,438 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 57,550 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 20,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 688.5% in the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 479,126 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,722,000 after purchasing an additional 418,365 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Williams Companies

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.