Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Lowered to $85.00 at Scotiabank

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $86.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective points to a potential upside of 16.85% from the company’s previous close.

WMB has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.67.

Williams Companies Stock Down 3.2%

NYSE WMB traded down $2.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $72.74. 3,127,305 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,998,906. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $56.19 and a 52 week high of $80.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.56. The company has a market cap of $88.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $20,077,064.33. The trade was a 4.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 19,000 shares of company stock worth $1,414,050 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 56.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 386 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 59.4% during the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

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.