The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Purchased by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 333,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,896 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Patten Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.7% in the second quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 27,026 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 82.6% during the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,335 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 13,721 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 19.2% during the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 20,797 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $884,000 after acquiring an additional 3,345 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 915.5% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,031 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $45.50 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $45.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.05 and its 200-day moving average is $40.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped 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. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

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.