Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Shares Up 4.3% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Williams Companies shares rose 4.3% to about $74.14, while analysts maintained a broadly positive outlook. The stock has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $85.60.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.50 per share, matching estimates, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded forecasts and increased 9.8% year over year.
• Williams declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equivalent to $2.10 annually and a 2.8% yield. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the stock, although insiders have recently sold shares.

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 4.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $75.53 and last traded at $74.1390. Approximately 1,397,794 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 6,901,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.60.

Williams Companies Stock Up 4.4%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.36 and a 200-day moving average of $73.23. The company has a market capitalization of $90.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,000 shares of company stock worth $1,262,930. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Williams Companies by 7,567.4% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 162,591,616 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $12,087,061,000 after purchasing an additional 160,471,058 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,086,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,991 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,768,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,164 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Williams Companies by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,018,017,000 after buying an additional 3,314,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,097,208 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,460,446,000 after buying an additional 10,013,946 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is 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.

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