Mizuho Boosts Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $56.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective increased by Mizuho from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

WMB has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.62.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $52.99. 290,407 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,218,821. The company has a market capitalization of $64.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $53.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.96.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. SouthState Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. 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.