Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

WMB has been the subject of several other research reports. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $72.45 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.28. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $51.58 and a 52-week high of $76.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,699.30. This represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,377,154.28. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 51,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,769,012. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its position in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 216.8% in the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. 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.