Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 212,070 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 10,397 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 15.7% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 145.5% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 95,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 56,509 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,636,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $91,820,000 after purchasing an additional 518,009 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.5% in the first quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 1,644,620 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,091,000 after purchasing an additional 56,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $2,364,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $46.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $56.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.49 and a one year high of $46.28. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $44.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.