Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $71.58 and last traded at $69.0980, with a volume of 2296348 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMB. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.64.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.47.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares in the company, valued at $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $498,700 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,096,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 24,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 47,466 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,853,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 33,871 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.