CapWealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

CapWealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 854,625 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 22,276 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises about 4.6% of CapWealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. CapWealth Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $36,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,417,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $4,221,000 after buying an additional 14,672 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 145.5% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 95,359 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,716,000 after buying an additional 56,509 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,636,222 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $91,820,000 after buying an additional 518,009 shares during the period. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 1,644,620 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $64,091,000 after acquiring an additional 56,013 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Williams Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.83.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,602,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,411,479. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.49 and a 52 week high of $45.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The firm'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 company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.29%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

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.