Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $73.87 and last traded at $73.41, with a volume of 227356 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.36.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $89.73 billion, a PE ratio of 34.33, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 93.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 13,653 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $858,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 15,369 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $965,000 after buying an additional 3,451 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.