Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $52.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective raised by Citigroup from $45.00 to $52.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.24% from the company’s current price.

WMB has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.46.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

WMB traded up $0.40 on Thursday, reaching $48.04. 2,339,947 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,288,105. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.48 and its 200-day moving average is $41.87. The company has a market cap of $58.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.05. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $32.58 and a twelve month high of $48.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Blackstone Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% in the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position 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 worth $403,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039,703 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $224,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647,469 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $56,223,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3,821.2% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,579,718 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $55,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,431 shares during the period. 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.