Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $80.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $80.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on WMB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.43.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE WMB traded up $0.56 on Wednesday, hitting $71.68. 1,392,317 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,103,007. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $72.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $87.54 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.35 and a 200-day moving average of $60.62.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.37%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 98.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 104.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.