Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB), setting a "buy" rating and a price target of $72.00, indicating an upside potential of 11.89% from its previous close.
• Multiple analysts have varied ratings on the stock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.94, reflecting differing opinions on the company's performance.
• Williams Companies reported a Q2 EPS of $0.46, which missed the $0.49 consensus estimate, alongside a 19% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $72.00 price target on the pipeline company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.89% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.94.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $64.35 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $49.17 and a twelve month high of $65.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.05. The company has a market capitalization of $78.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $497,715 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 20,288 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 34.6% in the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,394 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 8.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 37,458 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,238,000 after buying an additional 3,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $223,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.

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