Seelaus Asset Management LLC Cuts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Seelaus Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,240 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 575 shares during the quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 38.0% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 14,255 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in Williams Companies by 477.5% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 12,215 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,459 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 26.8% during the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,771,000 after acquiring an additional 443,423 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $55.93 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $55.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.19. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

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.