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

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Mizuho from $47.00 to $56.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective points to a potential upside of 5.56% from the stock’s current price.

WMB has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $53.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $53.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $48.19 and its 200 day moving average is $44.06. The company has a market cap of $64.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Norden Group LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 21,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 4,417 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 85,854 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,346,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Williams Companies by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 98,313 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,820,000 after buying an additional 7,891 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Williams Companies by 141.9% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 7,786 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 4,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $474,000. 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.