Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $71.58 and last traded at $69.0980, with a volume of 2296348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised shares of Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.64.

Williams Companies Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $85.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $61.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 103.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,488,452.55. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $498,700. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 104.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.