Canal Insurance CO Has $6.57 Million Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Canal Insurance CO lowered its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 26.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 40,400 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up approximately 1.5% of Canal Insurance CO's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Canal Insurance CO's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $26,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 119.4% in the first quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 634 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.6%

WMB stock opened at $62.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.57. The company has a market cap of $76.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $62.95.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The business's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.25.

Williams Companies Company 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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