The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Estabrook Capital Management

Estabrook Capital Management trimmed its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,563 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,430 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up 1.3% of Estabrook Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Estabrook Capital Management’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $124,000. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 65,590 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,284,000 after purchasing an additional 13,291 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 45,506 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 7,293 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $671,000. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 46,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 10,192 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $45.38 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.49 and a 1 year high of $45.82. The stock has a market capitalization 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.35.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Barclays lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

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.