Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Boosts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,018,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 473,712 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for about 1.5% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.58% of Williams Companies worth $244,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $27,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.22.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $39.26 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.27 and a 12 month high of $39.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98, a P/E/G ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.88.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.84%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.52%.

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.