Thomasville National Bank Buys Shares of 5,206 The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Thomasville National Bank acquired a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,206 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.74. 8,203,352 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,796,789. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.41 and a one year high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $58.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 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 firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.25.

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.