Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,981 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $71,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. CIBC increased their price objective 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.8 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $53.49 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $60.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.81.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

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.