Sfmg LLC Raises Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sfmg LLC raised its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,604 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 589 shares during the quarter. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 52.5% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $37.68 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.63. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.27 and a 12-month high of $39.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.04%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMB. Truist Financial upped their target price on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.55.

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.