The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Position Lifted by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 88.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,389 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,851 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $27,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $29,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 52.5% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $31,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.90.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

WMB stock opened at $37.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.65. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.27 and a fifty-two week high of $39.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.06%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 72.52%.

Williams Companies 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.