Challenger Wealth Management Takes Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Challenger Wealth Management bought a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,374 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.75.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $60.22. The stock had a trading volume of 6,661,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,690,903. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.06 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.43 billion, a PE ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,583 shares of company stock valued at $6,095,318 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.