The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,003,793 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 171,202 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.25% of Williams Companies worth $128,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $124,000. Commerce Bank boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 46,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 380,895 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $13,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,271 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 14,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $46.22 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $44.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.49 and a twelve month high of $46.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $56.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.