Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Makes New $1.23 Million Investment in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 22,669 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $57.29 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.59. The stock has a market cap of $69.86 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $37.18 and a 12 month high of $61.67.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.