Wolfe Research Upgrades Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) to “Strong-Buy”

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wolfe Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.60.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5%

WMB stock opened at $70.54 on Tuesday. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $76.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market cap of $86.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $73.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.44.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.75, for a total value of $143,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 289,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,747,158.25. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its stake in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. 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.