Sovran Advisors LLC Invests $359,000 in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,181 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Williams Companies by 19.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after acquiring an additional 5,697,605 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,722,702 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,398,004,000 after acquiring an additional 520,663 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,239,210 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $330,470,000 after buying an additional 67,016 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,271,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $149,326,000 after purchasing an additional 108,675 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.7 %

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

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 net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. On average, research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.00.

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.