Intact Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Intact Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 60.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,400 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 58,900 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 36.5% during 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 boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 2,303.2% during 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 stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6,407.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $133,772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $273,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,906 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.2%

WMB traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $60.44. 14,263,493 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,802,584. The firm's fifty day moving average is $59.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.44. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $73.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. CIBC upped their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.25.

Williams Companies Company 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.