Williams Companies' (WMB) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Stifel Nicolaus

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on Williams Companies and set an $85 price target, implying approximately 13% upside from the reported $75.24 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with MarketBeat reporting a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $85.73, despite one recent downgrade to “Sell.”
• Williams reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, in line with estimates, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded expectations and increased 9.8% year over year; institutional investors own 86.44% of the stock.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $85.00 price objective on the pipeline company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.97% from the company's current price.

WMB has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.73.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $75.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $92.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $56.19 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The stock's 50-day moving average is $73.36 and its 200 day moving average is $73.56.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 268,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This represents a 4.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 19,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,050 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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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