Principal Securities Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Principal Securities Inc. lowered its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,866 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 13,175 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. CIBC boosted their target price 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 boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.29.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $57.78 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.85 and a twelve month high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.