Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WMB. Zacks Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.33.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $72.59 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $72.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.74. 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 stock has a market cap of $88.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,377,154.28. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $385,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,093,848 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $65,751,000 after buying an additional 145,441 shares in the last quarter. Fund Advisors of America Inc FL purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $1,232,000. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 55,577 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,341,000 after acquiring an additional 12,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $302,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.