Spirit of America Management Corp NY Reduces Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Spirit of America Management Corp NY trimmed its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 284,432 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 44,500 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for 3.1% of Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after purchasing an additional 19,782 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 81.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,074,000 after purchasing an additional 10,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brendel Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $55.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.95. The stock has a market cap of $67.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.65 and a 52 week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

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.