Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Mizuho from $47.00 to $56.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.63% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WMB. CIBC increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.62.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $51.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.86. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $52.85.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Colonial River Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $349,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 70.1% during the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 62,692 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 25,828 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp raised its position in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 28,922 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 127.1% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,712 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 14,389 shares during the period. Finally, XML Financial LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.6% in the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.