Hourglass Capital LLC Sells 3,600 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Hourglass Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 156,940 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for about 2.0% of Hourglass Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 109.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $403,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039,703 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 40.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $224,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.83.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $45.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $55.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.56. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.49 and a one year high of $45.81.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Williams Companies 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.