Royal Bank Of Canada Increases Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $87.00

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised Williams Companies’ price target from $83 to $87 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, implying approximately 22% upside from the stock’s $71.31 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $83.88, despite one recent downgrade to “sell.”
• Williams Companies met quarterly EPS expectations at $0.50 and exceeded revenue estimates with $3.05 billion, while revenue increased 9.8% year over year. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada from $83.00 to $87.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target would indicate a potential upside of 22.01% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.88.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.91 during trading on Monday, reaching $71.31. 1,805,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,003,020. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.38, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.59. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $80.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company's 50 day moving average is $73.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.62.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total transaction of $141,300.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 281,159 shares in the company, valued at $19,863,883.35. The trade was a 0.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,500 shares of company stock worth $1,402,755. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,052,537,000 after purchasing an additional 883,245 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,086,344,000 after buying an additional 1,296,991 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,768,298,000 after buying an additional 2,100,164 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,018,017,000 after buying an additional 3,314,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,281,875,000 after buying an additional 3,748,126 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is 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.

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