Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock Rating Upgraded by CIBC

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) was upgraded by CIBC from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $64.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock. CIBC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.38% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen began 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.86.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2%

WMB opened at $57.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $70.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.66. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $43.69 and a 52 week high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,718,333.60. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,075,340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,358,462,000 after buying an additional 1,912,156 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,770,336,000 after buying an additional 1,680,477 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after buying an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,047,025,000 after buying an additional 932,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $913,840,000 after buying an additional 54,902 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.