L & S Advisors Inc Acquires Shares of 78,316 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

L & S Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 78,316 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,328,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 109.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $252,006,000 after buying an additional 3,373,800 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $403,801,000 after buying an additional 2,039,703 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 40.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $224,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647,469 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $45.46 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.13. The company has a market cap of $55.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.49 and a twelve month high of $45.81.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Argus upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.83.

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.