Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Upgraded at Cibc World Mkts

Key Points

• Williams Companies was upgraded from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating by CIBC World Markets, highlighting growing analyst confidence in the stock.
• Research firms have raised their price targets for Williams Companies, with Wells Fargo increasing it from $67.00 to $70.00 and others adjusting targets upwards as well.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings miss, with earnings per share (EPS) of $0.46, below the consensus estimate of $0.49, despite a significant year-over-year revenue increase of 19%.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Cibc World Mkts from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WMB. TD Cowen started coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.86.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $57.46 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.27. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $43.69 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The company has a market capitalization of $70.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 10,955 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Wallace Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,177 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,823 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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