National Pension Service Boosts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,708,093 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 328,516 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.22% of Williams Companies worth $146,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $56.93 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.53. The company has a market capitalization of $69.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.54 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.21.

Williams Companies Company 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.