Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 193,342 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 542.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 228,962 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 193,342 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for about 1.4% of Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% in the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $538,482,000 after acquiring an additional 144,713 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,648,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $410,064,000 after acquiring an additional 311,530 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $325,726,000 after buying an additional 618,056 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $330,470,000 after buying an additional 67,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $259,985,000 after buying an additional 1,024,158 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $58.14 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $60.36. The stock has a market cap of $70.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.38 and a 200-day moving average of $46.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.79.

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.