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

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $64.03 and last traded at $64.07, with a volume of 198631 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.31.

Several other research firms also recently commented on WMB. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $623,115. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 534,775 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,589,000 after purchasing an additional 3,678 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 132.1% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 373,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $22,898,000 after purchasing an additional 212,447 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 106,322 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,678,000 after purchasing an additional 17,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Williams Companies by 73.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 339,953 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $21,348,000 after purchasing an additional 143,506 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.2%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.53 and its 200 day moving average is $58.76. The company has a market capitalization of $78.10 billion, a PE ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business’s revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.50%.

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.