Ieq Capital LLC Raises Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 12.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,477 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 5,499 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $817,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,628 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $538,482,000 after buying an additional 144,713 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 buying an additional 2,039,703 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $410,064,000 after buying an additional 311,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its position in Williams Companies by 13.4% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 8,540,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $332,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010,658 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $45.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.35. The firm has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.49 and a one year high of $45.82.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. StockNews.com downgraded Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.50.

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.