Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,879,547 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 166,090 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Williams Companies worth $239,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rheos Capital Works Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 660,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $22,988,000 after buying an additional 245,000 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 28.1% during the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 107,609 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,625,000 after purchasing an additional 23,579 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Williams Companies by 35.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 45.3% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $220,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3,338.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 352,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,264,000 after purchasing an additional 341,863 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $39.32 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.27 and a 52-week high of $39.99. The stock has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.06.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. US Capital Advisors downgraded Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.55.

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.