Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has initiated coverage on Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB), setting an "outperform" rating and a price target of $66.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.29% from its current price.
• Despite recent coverage, Williams Companies missed analysts' earnings estimates for the last quarter, reporting $0.46 earnings per share against expectations of $0.49.
• Institutional investors hold a significant stake in Williams Companies, with 86.44% of the company's stock owned by these entities as various funds increase their positions.

Analysts at BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating and a $66.00 price target on the pipeline company's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.65% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WMB. Argus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. CIBC upgraded Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $60.19. The stock had a trading volume of 14,759,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,144,413. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $44.51 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $58.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.50. The stock has a market cap of $73.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $623,115. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,489,000 after acquiring an additional 6,816 shares during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 362.5% in the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,465,991 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $87,608,000 after buying an additional 1,149,045 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $24,081,000 after buying an additional 87,031 shares during the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $327,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 14.0% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,130,000 after acquiring an additional 10,561 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.