Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on WMB. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $72.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.98 billion, a PE ratio of 33.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.66. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $51.58 and a 1-year high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced 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 business had revenue of $3.20 billion for 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was 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 (DPR) is presently 98.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.2% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 29,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 56.7% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 243,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,269,000 after purchasing an additional 88,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,380,115 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $86,685,000 after purchasing an additional 167,673 shares in the last quarter. 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.