Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $81.00 to $83.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.02% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.47.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $72.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $54.19 and a twelve month high of $76.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $72.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.07. The firm has a market cap of $88.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced 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 business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 216.8% in the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.