The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 857,860 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 55,778 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $30,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,086,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $643,015,000 after purchasing an additional 712,048 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,455,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $486,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,150 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 7.3% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,628,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $459,148,000 after purchasing an additional 921,537 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,482,331 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,018,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $244,467,000 after buying an additional 473,712 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $39.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $47.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a PEG ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.93 and its 200 day moving average is $36.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Truist Financial boosted 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. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, US Capital Advisors cut Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.22.

Williams Companies 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.