Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 2,757 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 429,507 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 2,757 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for about 2.7% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $18,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.8% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,770 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.83.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $45.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.49 and a 52-week high of $45.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

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.