Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $77.52 and last traded at $77.4910, with a volume of 3270109 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.71.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
WMB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.47.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WMB
Williams Companies Stock Performance
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.
Williams Companies Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.11%.
Insider Transactions at Williams Companies
In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 103,369 shares of company stock worth $7,700,932 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 worth $8,052,537,000 after acquiring an additional 883,245 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,086,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,991 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Williams Companies by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,077,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,668,950 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,768,298,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew 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 purchasing an additional 3,314,851 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.
About Williams Companies
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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