Waterloo Capital L.P. Grows Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 16.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,354 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,152 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,800 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $403,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039,703 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $224,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647,469 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $56,223,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $45.18 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.23. The company has a market capitalization of $55.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued 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 net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.