Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock Price Up 4.3% – Time to Buy?

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)’s share price rose 4.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $75.53 and last traded at $74.1390. 1,397,794 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 6,901,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.60.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $90.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.44 and its 200 day moving average is $73.33.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 83.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,064.33. This trade represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,262,930. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 59.4% during the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 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.