Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock Price

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $78.00 to $82.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.75% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on WMB. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. UBS Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.33.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.0%

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $72.73. 168,158 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,259,510. The firm has a market cap of $88.84 billion, a PE ratio of 33.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.66. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $51.58 and a 12-month high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at $1,938,231.45. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 56.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 243,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,269,000 after purchasing an additional 88,000 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,380,115 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $86,685,000 after purchasing an additional 167,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 212,487 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $13,346,000 after purchasing an additional 22,938 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.