River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 373,541 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

River Road Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,309,695 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 373,541 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $45,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $27,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 52.5% in the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.1 %

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.68. 6,122,817 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,093,245. 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 12 month low of $28.27 and a 12 month high of $39.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.62. The company has a market cap of $45.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.04%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.52%.

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.