Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Increases Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 863,345 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 97,010 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY owned approximately 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $36,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 109.1% in the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $252,006,000 after buying an additional 3,373,800 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Williams Companies by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $403,801,000 after buying an additional 2,039,703 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $224,203,000 after buying an additional 1,647,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $56,223,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank upped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.83.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $44.93. The stock had a trading volume of 3,423,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,446,807. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.10. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $45.79.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

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.

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