Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 11,912 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,690,371 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 11,912 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.14% of Williams Companies worth $107,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of WMB opened at $66.36 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $68.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $61.29 and its 200-day moving average is $60.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The company had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Zacks Research downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $242,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,319,101.85. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Company Profile

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.