Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 17.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 242,599 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 35,738 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $968,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,712 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE WMB traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.74. 8,203,352 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,796,789. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.37. The firm has a market cap of $72.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.