Scotiabank Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock Price

Key Points

• Scotiabank lowered its price target for Williams Companies from $86 to $85 while maintaining a “sector outperform” rating, implying 16.85% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: the stock has an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $85.67, despite one recent downgrade to “Sell.”
• Williams reported quarterly EPS in line with estimates at $0.50 and revenue of $3.05 billion, up 9.8% year over year; institutional investors own 86.44% of the company, while insiders sold 19,000 shares over the past 90 days.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $86.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "sector outperform" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Scotiabank's target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.85% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.67.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded down $2.41 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $72.74. 3,127,305 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,998,906. The company has a market capitalization of $88.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $56.19 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $73.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.56.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.56, for a total value of $151,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 264,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,967,410.04. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 19,000 shares of company stock worth $1,414,050 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $15,277,000. Cynosure Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $647,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $2,504,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $77,998,000. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 525,232 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $31,572,000 after acquiring an additional 150,032 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Company Profile

Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company focused primarily on gathering, processing, transporting and storing natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company provides the infrastructure and related services that connect natural gas supplies with utilities, power generators, industrial customers, liquefied natural gas facilities and other markets.

Williams operates a large network of interstate and regional natural gas pipelines, gathering systems, processing facilities and storage assets across the United States.

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