Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target to $43.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

WMB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research restated an underperform rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut Williams Companies from an overweight rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $39.55.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $39.50. 1,033,151 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,894,879. The company has a market cap of $48.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $28.27 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.06.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,417,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 35.1% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 45.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,900,745 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $143,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679,452 shares during the last quarter. 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.