Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Receives $83.56 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.5625.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its stake in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:WMB opened at $73.96 on Friday. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $80.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.88.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s 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.