Melius Research Begins Coverage on Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)

Equities research analysts at Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) in a report released on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock. Melius Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 17.17% from the company’s previous close.

WMB has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.56.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $71.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $72.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.43. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $56.19 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.59.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.56, for a total value of $151,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 264,259 shares in the company, valued at $19,967,410.04. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,000 shares of company stock worth $1,414,050. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. State Street Corp raised its stake in Williams Companies by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,086,344,000 after buying an additional 1,296,991 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $3,320,606,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 43.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,097,208 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,460,446,000 after buying an additional 10,013,946 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,281,875,000 after acquiring an additional 3,748,126 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,036,698 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,204,406,000 after acquiring an additional 239,732 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.