Brokerages Set Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Target Price at $82.40

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have given a buy recommendation and four have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.9375.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total value of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 283,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,999,071.44. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.9% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,709 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Adelphi Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Adelphi Trust Co now owns 5,942 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 16.0% in the first quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 13,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 19.3% during the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Militia Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $2,794,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $73.09 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.57. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.30.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

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.