Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases New Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 27,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $57.44 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $56.15 and its 200 day moving average is $52.18. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.26 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.29.

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.