BLB&B Advisors LLC Purchases 74,573 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• BLB&B Advisors increased its Williams Companies position by 644.2% in the third quarter, purchasing 74,573 shares and bringing its holdings to 86,149 shares valued at approximately $5.86 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.44% of WMB.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with two Strong Buy and 18 Buy ratings; the stock has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $86.06.
• Williams reported $0.50 in quarterly EPS and $3.05 billion in revenue, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equal to a 2.8% yield. Potential risks include high leverage, rising interest rates and elevated financing costs.

BLB&B Advisors LLC raised its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 644.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,149 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 74,573 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $3,320,606,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 43.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,097,208 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,460,446,000 after acquiring an additional 10,013,946 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,710,478 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $852,289,000 after acquiring an additional 2,020,899 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $596,077,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $500,305,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $92.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on Williams Companies from $86.00 to $85.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, September 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their target price on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an "outperformer" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.06.

Key Stories Impacting Williams Companies

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

• Positive Sentiment: WMB recently moved above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling improving short-term and long-term momentum. These breakouts may attract technical traders and reinforce the view that the stock has established support near current levels. WMB 50-day moving average article WMB 200-day moving average article
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity points to bullish positioning: investors purchased about 151,361 WMB call options, roughly 997% above typical call volume. Options activity is speculative, but it suggests increased expectations for further gains. WMB options and moving average article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to third-quarter results, with the Socrates Phase 1 project, the Momentum acquisition and strong natural-gas demand identified as potential growth drivers. Williams’ fee-based pipeline model also makes it a relatively defensive energy holding, including for power demand from data centers. Williams Q3 earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Williams declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, payable December 28 to shareholders of record December 11. The $2.10 annualized payout represents a yield of approximately 2.8%, but the dividend was maintained rather than increased. Williams quarterly dividend announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Rising interest rates could pressure WMB’s valuation and increase financing costs, particularly given its relatively high leverage. Higher yields may also make the company’s dividend less attractive compared with cash and other income investments, while rising operating costs remain a risk ahead of earnings.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $74.23 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The firm's 50 day moving average is $72.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.64. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.19 and a 52 week high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be issued a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 83.67%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.85, for a total value of $135,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 262,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,794,273.15. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 19,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,401,430 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Company Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1908 as Williams Brothers, the company has evolved from an early pipeline contractor into a major operator of natural gas infrastructure in the United States.

Williams primarily gathers, processes, transports and stores natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its assets include interstate and regional pipelines, gas processing and fractionation facilities, storage operations, and gathering systems that connect producers with utilities, industrial customers, power generators and other energy markets.

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