Barings LLC Buys New Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Barings LLC opened a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter, buying 103,911 shares valued at about $7.56 million.
• The stock has drawn significant institutional interest, with 86.44% of shares owned by hedge funds and other institutions, even as some insiders have recently sold shares.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.73 per share, maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, and Wall Street now has a Buy consensus with a price target of $83.56.

Barings LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 103,911 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $7,563,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $4,627,000. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 261,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $15,689,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares in the last quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 525,232 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $31,572,000 after purchasing an additional 150,032 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,105,570 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $125,839,000 after buying an additional 365,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 164,900 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,912,000 after buying an additional 13,438 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total transaction of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 283,159 shares in the company, valued at $20,999,071.44. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of WMB opened at $74.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $91.25 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.34 and a 200 day moving average of $71.30. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.56.

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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