Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,230 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.50.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $45.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $55.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.31. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.49 and a one year high of $45.82.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.83%.

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.