Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WMB. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.21.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.5%

WMB opened at $60.41 on Tuesday. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $65.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $73.77 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.Williams Companies’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.90, for a total value of $123,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 297,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,418,035.50. The trade was a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,075,340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,358,462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,156 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,077,942,000 after buying an additional 6,668,950 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,575,898 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $923,383,000 after acquiring an additional 158,077 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $765,164,000. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 190.3% during the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $755,490,000 after acquiring an additional 7,884,730 shares during the last quarter. 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.