Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Makes New $2.65 Million Investment in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 44,400 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $2,653,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,025,795,000 after buying an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after buying an additional 3,370,974 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 6,407.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $133,772,000 after buying an additional 2,204,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $273,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,906 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.52. The stock had a trading volume of 5,461,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,038,023. The firm's 50 day moving average is $59.51 and its 200 day moving average is $57.87. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $63.45. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $71.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.69.

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.