Values First Advisors Inc. Has $677,000 Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Values First Advisors Inc. lifted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 36.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,509 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 3,311 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 17.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of WMB stock opened at $54.83 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The stock has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.87 and its 200-day moving average is $51.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

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.