Legacy Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Legacy Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 42,011 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Williams Companies by 2,303.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $190,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370,974 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 6,407.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $133,772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP raised its position in Williams Companies by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $273,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,906 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $60.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.41 and a one year high of $61.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 106.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.25.

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.