CIBC Boosts Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $39.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective increased by CIBC from $38.00 to $39.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. CIBC currently has a neutral rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WMB. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research reissued an underperform rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. US Capital Advisors lowered Williams Companies from an overweight rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $39.55.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.58. 6,208,759 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,962,554. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.08. Williams Companies has a one year low of $28.27 and a one year high of $39.99. The company has a market cap of $48.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 27.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,417,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 35.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 45.3% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $220,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,993 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 55.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,900,745 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740,677 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $143,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,452 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.