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

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price raised by research analysts at UBS Group from $51.00 to $55.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 20.38% from the stock’s current price.

WMB has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.69. 137,883 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,291,060. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $32.49 and a 52-week high of $45.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.20. The company has a market cap of $55.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 14,707 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 13,169 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 3,770 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 53,218 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 339.1% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 15,856 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 12,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $306,417,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

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.