Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Given New $54.00 Price Target at CIBC

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price hoisted by investment analysts at CIBC from $45.00 to $54.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. CIBC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 3.25% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WMB. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.62.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $52.30. The company had a trading volume of 4,281,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,260,851. Williams Companies has a one year low of $32.65 and a one year high of $52.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.98. The firm has a market cap of $63.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were 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 approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors 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.