Kinsale Capital Group Inc. Increases Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Kinsale Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 150,255 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,179 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises 2.2% of Kinsale Capital Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Kinsale Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 10,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares during the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $253,000. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 8,597 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 3,881 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 19,896 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 report on Friday, November 15th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.21.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.5 %

WMB stock opened at $58.25 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.38 and a 1-year high of $61.46. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Equities analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.