Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Rating Increased to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $82.00 price objective on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.60.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $70.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $55.56 and a 1 year high of $76.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at $1,938,231.45. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% 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 have sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 216.8% in the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.