Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Shares in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 73,600 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $2,563,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 52.5% in the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 915 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5 %

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $37.65. The company had a trading volume of 8,086,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,128,928. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.27 and a fifty-two week high of $39.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day moving average is $36.65 and its 200-day moving average is $35.59.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.00.

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.