Profund Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Profund Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 65,135 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,592 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.50.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $45.38 on Monday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.06 and a 200-day moving average of $41.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.49 and a 52 week 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 the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

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.