Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 350,203 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,679 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Next Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $221,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,607 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,687 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $46.36 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $56.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $44.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.83. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $46.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.50.

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.