Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Williams Companies shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $79.59 after closing at $77.69, reflecting strong recent momentum in the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on WMB, with UBS, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley all raising price targets; the consensus rating is Buy with an average target of $80.47.
• The company posted better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $0.73 and also announced a $0.525 quarterly dividend, equal to a 2.6% annualized yield.

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $79.59 and last traded at $79.3180, with a volume of 8359458 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.69.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $80.47.

Williams Companies Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market cap of $96.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.09.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The business's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 117,869 shares of company stock worth $8,814,067. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,540,556 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $287,644,000 after buying an additional 134,777 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 184,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $11,664,000 after buying an additional 16,027 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,627,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 75.9% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 125,290 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,937,000 after buying an additional 54,057 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3,344.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 17,465 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 16,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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