Hourglass Capital LLC Trims Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Hourglass Capital LLC lowered its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,880 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 13,420 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for 2.1% of Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Hourglass Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,990 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,085,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 76.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 39,593 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after acquiring an additional 17,125 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 46,407 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,512,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, bLong Financial LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8 %

WMB stock opened at $57.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.65. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.03 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.