The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) is NBW Capital LLC’s 9th Largest Position

NBW Capital LLC increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 270,546 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,775 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up approximately 2.2% of NBW Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. NBW Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% in the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th 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 raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $143,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,679,452 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $56,223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $42.20. The company had a trading volume of 5,833,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,237,502. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.18 and its 200 day moving average is $38.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.49 and a twelve month high of $45.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued 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 4.50%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.77.

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.