Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Has $18.13 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 334,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 789 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises approximately 2.0% of Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $18,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 38.0% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 12,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 14,255 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 477.5% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 12,215 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,459 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 26.8% in the third quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 2,097,941 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $95,771,000 after buying an additional 443,423 shares in the last quarter. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $68.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.19. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

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.