Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $244.47 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,018,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 473,712 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for approximately 1.5% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $244,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.9% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,086,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $643,015,000 after acquiring an additional 712,048 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,455,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $486,991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,150 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,628,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $459,148,000 after acquiring an additional 921,537 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,301,527 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $380,748,000 after purchasing an additional 68,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Williams Companies by 35.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $39.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.45 and a 200-day moving average of $35.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $47.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98, a P/E/G ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.27 and a 52-week high of $39.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.22.

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.