Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Earns Outperform Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $63.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 7.73% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.77.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of WMB opened at $58.48 on Tuesday. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $40.41 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.05. The firm has a market cap of $71.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,489,000 after purchasing an additional 6,816 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 27.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $24,081,000 after buying an additional 87,031 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,130,000 after buying an additional 10,561 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,224,000 after acquiring an additional 7,618 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by 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.