Heritage Wealth Advisors Grows Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 5.2%, owning 429,494 shares valued at approximately $25.67 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for Williams Companies include a "buy" rating from TD Cowen with a price target of $67.00, indicating positive sentiment toward the company's stock performance.
• Williams Companies announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 3.3%, with a payout ratio currently at 106.95%.

Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 429,494 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 21,063 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises approximately 1.3% of Heritage Wealth Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Heritage Wealth Advisors' holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blackstone Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $824,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,618 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 7,916,565 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $473,094,000 after purchasing an additional 113,759 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 263,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 42.3% in the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $60.27. The stock had a trading volume of 7,834,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,215,843. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.41 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The firm's 50 day moving average is $59.42 and its 200-day moving average is $58.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.