Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from $83.00 to $87.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.01% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WMB. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.88.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.91 on Monday, reaching $71.31. 1,805,742 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,003,020. The company has a market cap of $87.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.38, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.10 and a 200-day moving average of $72.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Williams Companies has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 18,500 shares of company stock worth $1,402,755 over the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.1% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $35,734,000 after acquiring an additional 11,926 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 101,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.