Commerce Bank Acquires 87,208 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Commerce Bank significantly increased its ownership in Williams Companies, raising its stake by 128.7% to a total of 154,957 shares valued at approximately $9.26 million.
• Williams Companies reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.60 for the last quarter, beating analysts' expectations, with revenue reaching $3.05 billion, up by 10% compared to the previous year.
• Recently, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%, although its payout ratio is notably high at 106.95%.

Commerce Bank lifted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 128.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,957 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 87,208 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.5% during the 4th 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 period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $824,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,618 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 113,759 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 263,785 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,458,270 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $349,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920,189 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB traded up $0.02 on Monday, reaching $60.29. The stock had a trading volume of 8,080,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,793,958. 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 company has a market cap of $73.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $59.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.28. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.04). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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