Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 446,689 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,618 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $24,175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMB. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $57.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.03 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a market capitalization of $69.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

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.