317,298 Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Acquired by Capital Innovations LLC

Key Points

• Capital Innovations LLC bought 317,298 shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter, a stake worth about $19.1 million. The position now accounts for 5.4% of its portfolio and is its fifth-largest holding.
• Williams Companies has seen mixed insider activity, with SVP Glen G. Jasek and CFO John Dean Porter both selling shares in recent weeks. Insiders have sold 78,762 shares over the last three months.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish on WMB, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at Buy. The stock also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, for an annualized yield of about 2.9%.

Capital Innovations LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 317,298 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $19,073,000. Williams Companies makes up 5.4% of Capital Innovations LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 78,762 shares of company stock valued at $5,937,632 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus raised its price target on Williams Companies, highlighting the company’s large role in U.S. natural gas infrastructure and its position among the better-liked energy stocks, which can reinforce investor confidence. The Williams Companies (WMB) Price Target Raised by $2 at Argus
• Positive Sentiment: Broader midstream and gas-infrastructure coverage has been constructive, citing robust gas backlogs, LNG export growth, and rising power demand from data centers as tailwinds for natural-gas-focused pipeline companies like WMB. Midstream: Robust Gas Backlogs Drive Growth Visibility
• Positive Sentiment: A Zacks article compared WMB favorably as a value stock versus peer Ultrapar, which may help keep valuation-focused investors interested. UGP or WMB: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The company expanded funding flexibility by adding new credit lines and filing a shelf registration, which gives Williams more financial optionality but also raises the possibility of future share issuance. Williams Companies Expands Funding Options With New Credit Lines And Equity Shelf
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors trimmed earnings estimates for several future periods, including FY2027 and FY2028, which can pressure sentiment if investors view the cuts as a sign of slower profit growth ahead. Williams Companies research notes and estimates

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $71.23 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.15. The company has a market capitalization of $87.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Williams Companies Company Profile

Williams Companies, Inc NYSE: WMB is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.

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