Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

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

Several other research firms have also commented on WMB. Scotiabank raised shares of Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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. Three research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $73.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.92 and a 200 day moving average of $64.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $51.58 and a 1-year high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 291,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,906,803.16. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 51,369 shares of company stock worth $3,769,012. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $760,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Betterment LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.