Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on WMB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $73.57 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.92 and a 200-day moving average of $64.14. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $76.87. The company has a market capitalization of $89.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 98.13%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total value of $150,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 291,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,906,803.16. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 51,369 shares of company stock worth $3,769,012. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

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.