Everence Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 54,060 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,926,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 34,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after buying an additional 3,311 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,576,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $71,952,000 after acquiring an additional 35,981 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,482,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,556,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 82,301 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,756,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. CIBC increased their target price 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.72 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.60. 1,531,427 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,565,031. The company has a market cap of $69.00 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.31 and a 200 day moving average of $48.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.17%.

About Williams Companies

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.