Next Capital Management LLC Invests $221,000 in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Next Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,198 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 10,262 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 23,374 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 9,428 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Williams Companies by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,196,764 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $76,513,000 after purchasing an additional 138,937 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 17,305 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 4,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eisler Capital UK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $1,115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $45.65 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.49 and a fifty-two week high of $46.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $44.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.76. 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 company has a market cap of $55.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WMB. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. 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 note on Wednesday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.