HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 34,980 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,337,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Patten Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 23,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,476 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 12,263 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 1,803 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 8,553 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.65. 177,347 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,622,920. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.24 and a 1-year high of $41.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.17. The firm has a market cap of $50.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Truist Financial raised 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.42.

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.