UBS Group Increases Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $55.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price boosted by research analysts at UBS Group from $51.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 22.52% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on WMB. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.50.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $44.89 on Wednesday. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $32.49 and a 52-week high of $45.82. The firm has a market cap of $54.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.25. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 109.1% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $403,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039,703 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $224,203,000 after buying an additional 1,647,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,223,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.