Foundry Partners LLC Lowers Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Foundry Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 262,099 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 32,448 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 660,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $22,988,000 after acquiring an additional 245,000 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 107,609 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,625,000 after acquiring an additional 23,579 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482,331 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $220,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,993 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3,338.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 352,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,264,000 after acquiring an additional 341,863 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.51. 6,745,976 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,401,590. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $46.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.72. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 4.93%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 72.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their target price 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.22.

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.