Stifel Nicolaus Raises Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $43.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential upside of 8.64% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WMB. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.55.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $39.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $48.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.08. Williams Companies has a one year low of $28.27 and a one year high of $39.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 27.29%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,086,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $643,015,000 after buying an additional 712,048 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Williams Companies by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,455,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $486,991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,150 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,628,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $459,148,000 after acquiring an additional 921,537 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $403,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $306,417,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Company Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.