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

Kinsale Capital Group Inc. increased its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 16.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 135,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 18,747 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises 1.8% of Kinsale Capital Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Kinsale Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 9.2% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 31,557 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.4% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 116,052 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,523,000 after acquiring an additional 13,709 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,036,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 97.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,333 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 12,022 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 12.9% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 22,800 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.54.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $56.55. 7,461,837 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,889,876. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.93. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $57.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.