UBS Group Boosts Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $70.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price boosted by UBS Group from $55.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 25.13% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.54.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.94. 1,015,639 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,223,295. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.81. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $32.65 and a twelve month high of $57.33. The firm has a market cap of $68.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $817,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $538,482,000 after acquiring an additional 144,713 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $410,064,000 after purchasing an additional 311,530 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 8.8% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,470,000 after purchasing an additional 67,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.