Brokerages Set Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Target Price at $77.47

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $77.4667.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 190.3% in the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,077,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,668,950 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,281,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,748,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4,992.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,704,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $222,692,000 after buying an additional 3,631,986 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $71.17 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $55.56 and a 12 month high of $76.87. The firm has a market cap of $86.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.32.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.13%.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.