The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $59.00 to $65.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. CIBC raised shares of Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.53.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.8%

Williams Companies stock opened at $64.54 on Thursday. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $48.41 and a twelve month high of $65.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.97. The company has a market capitalization of $78.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.50%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock worth $497,715 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.