Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Buys 45,160 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.24 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.30 and a 200-day moving average of $54.60. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. 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 (DPR) is 109.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price target 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. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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 note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. This represents a 11.92 % 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 quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.