Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,117,838 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 15,678 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises approximately 0.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.09% of Williams Companies worth $38,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 35.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,331 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $220,506,000 after buying an additional 2,040,993 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,900,745 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $165,106,000 after buying an additional 1,740,677 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $143,003,000 after buying an additional 1,679,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 292.5% in the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,712,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $57,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,275,872 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.22.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.94. 6,275,644 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,942,194. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.27 and a 1 year high of $39.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.93 and its 200-day moving average is $36.03. The company has a market capitalization of $47.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.52%.

Williams Companies Company 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.