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

Kinsale Capital Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,076 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,747 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises approximately 1.8% of Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 15.7% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1,855.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,918,000 after acquiring an additional 39,880 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,036,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in Williams Companies by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 16,064 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho boosted 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. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.54.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.55. 7,461,837 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,889,876. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $49.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.93. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $57.33. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.