Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (WMB) closed at $29.25 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.83% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.68%. At the same time, the Dow added 1.06%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.7%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the pipeline operator had lost 8.8% over the past month. This has lagged the Oils-Energy sector's loss of 8.65% and the S&P 500's loss of 6.68% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Williams Companies, Inc. (The) as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Williams Companies, Inc. (The) is projected to report earnings of $0.48 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 17.07%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.14 billion, up 24.49% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.82 per share and revenue of $12.28 billion. These totals would mark changes of 0% and +11.98%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Williams Companies, Inc. (The). Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.11% higher. Williams Companies, Inc. (The) is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Williams Companies, Inc. (The) is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 15.93. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.68.

Meanwhile, WMB's PEG ratio is currently 4.55. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Oil and Gas - Production and Pipelines stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 3.83 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Oil and Gas - Production and Pipelines industry is part of the Oils-Energy sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 31, putting it in the top 13% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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