Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Raised to “Sector Outperform” at Scotiabank

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) was upgraded by research analysts at Scotiabank from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $84.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.02% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WMB. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.27.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $71.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.50 and its 200 day moving average is $60.70. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $51.58 and a 1-year high of $72.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $86.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares in the company, valued at $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 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.