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

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $83.00 to $90.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Williams Companies traded as high as $76.45 and last traded at $76.2760, with a volume of 773149 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.72.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on WMB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Scotiabank upgraded Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 291,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,906,803.16. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 43,107 shares of company stock worth $3,133,015 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $92.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.525 dividend. 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 2.8%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.46%.

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.