Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $39.00 at CIBC

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by CIBC from $38.00 to $39.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the pipeline company's stock. CIBC's price target would indicate a potential downside of 0.81% from the stock's current price.

WMB has been the subject of several other research reports. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut shares of Williams Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.55.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $39.32. 6,161,431 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,965,915. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $28.27 and a 52-week high of $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm's 50-day moving average is $38.01 and its 200-day moving average is $36.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 22,683 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 17,883 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,116 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,520 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.