Freemont Management S.A. Acquires Shares of 91,200 Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Freemont Management S.A. has acquired 91,200 shares of Williams Companies, valued at approximately $5.45 million, making it the 16th largest position in their portfolio.
• Williams Companies recently reported $0.60 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $3.05 billion, a 10% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.40%, with a current payout ratio of 106.95%.

Freemont Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 91,200 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $5,450,000. Williams Companies accounts for about 1.8% of Freemont Management S.A.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Trilogy Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $535,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 659,223 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $39,395,000 after acquiring an additional 73,988 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 77,358 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,623,000 after acquiring an additional 4,618 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 189,676 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $11,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 148,876 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,897,000 after acquiring an additional 9,343 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WMB. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Cowen started coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, 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 Tuesday, July 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.77.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $0.91 on Friday, reaching $57.85. The stock had a trading volume of 4,957,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,106,748. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.21. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $63.45. The company has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

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.