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

Key Points

• Barclays increased its target price for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) from $58.00 to $59.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.84% from the current price.
• Analysts have varied opinions on the stock, with nine buy ratings, one sell rating, and an average price target of $62.36, suggesting a generally favorable outlook.
• Despite a revenue increase of 19% year-over-year, Williams Companies reported lower-than-expected EPS of $0.46, missing analyst estimates by $0.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Barclays from $58.00 to $59.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Barclays's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.84% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.36.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE WMB traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.37. 3,190,996 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,751,704. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $43.45 and a 1-year high of $63.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company has a market cap of $69.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%. Williams Companies's revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $507,875 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 79.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,060,364 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $129,411,000 after buying an additional 909,784 shares in the last quarter. Aperture Investors LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 49.1% in the second quarter. Aperture Investors LLC now owns 103,134 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $6,478,000 after buying an additional 33,970 shares in the last quarter. BCS Private Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 52.0% in the 2nd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 52,310 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,286,000 after acquiring an additional 17,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd grew its position in Williams Companies by 138.5% in the 2nd quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 36,951 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,321,000 after purchasing an additional 21,457 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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