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

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective raised by stock analysts at Barclays from $46.00 to $56.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.07% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE WMB traded down $0.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $55.96. The stock had a trading volume of 2,270,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,294,888. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $68.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.08. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $60.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $30,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.