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 report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WMB. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.60.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $70.54 on Tuesday. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.44. The company has a market capitalization of $86.16 billion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 216.8% during the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.