Kinsale Capital Group Inc. Acquires 20,464 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Kinsale Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 13.6%, making it the 10th largest position in its portfolio, valued at over $10 million.
• Williams Companies recently reported earnings of $0.60 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and has a favorable analyst consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $61.77.
• Shares of Williams Companies have experienced a 1.5% decline, trading at $57.85, with a market cap of approximately $70.53 billion and a strong dividend yield of 3.46%.

Kinsale Capital Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 13.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 170,719 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 20,464 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up 2.5% of Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Kinsale Capital Group Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $10,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,687,797,000 after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after buying an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $824,623,000 after buying an additional 1,696,618 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 7,916,565 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $473,094,000 after acquiring an additional 113,759 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,339,794 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $397,230,000 after acquiring an additional 263,785 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE WMB traded up $0.77 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $60.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,530,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,747,934. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.41 and a 52 week high of $63.45. The stock has a market cap of $73.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released 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 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.77.

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.