Kinsale Capital Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Kinsale Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 20.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 116,329 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 19,649 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises 1.7% of Kinsale Capital Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Kinsale Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 147,923 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,152,000 after buying an additional 39,215 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 14,707 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,954 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,734 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 149,432 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,205,000 after acquiring an additional 4,130 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 39,701 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 5,536 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.6 %

WMB stock opened at $44.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.65 and its 200 day moving average is $40.86. The stock has a market cap of $54.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $45.81.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.83.

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.