V Square Quantitative Management LLC Increases Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,160 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $57.52 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $70.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.51. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. 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. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

About Williams Companies

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.