Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 526,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,160 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $28,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3 %

WMB stock opened at $59.24 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.60. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. 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 3.38%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies 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.