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

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

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. US Capital Advisors lowered Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.55.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $39.58 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.08. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $28.27 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.40%. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,277 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.9% during the first quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 208,630 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,748 shares during the period. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 42.3% in the first quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 426,750 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $16,630,000 after purchasing an additional 126,800 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 13,690 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 113,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,423,000 after purchasing an additional 15,232 shares during the last quarter. 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.