Calton & Associates Inc. Takes $662,000 Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Calton & Associates Inc. has acquired a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. worth approximately $662,000, purchasing 11,071 shares during the first quarter.
• Williams Companies reported a miss on earnings for the latest quarter, with earnings per share of $0.46 compared to the analyst consensus of $0.49.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.5%, set to be paid out on September 29th.

Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,071 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $662,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 131,163,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,838,312,000 after purchasing an additional 807,019 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,770,336,000 after buying an additional 1,680,477 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after buying an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.6% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,047,025,000 after buying an additional 932,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $913,840,000 after buying an additional 54,902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMB. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.86.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.4%

WMB stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $57.51. The stock had a trading volume of 5,554,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,633,890. The firm has a market cap of $70.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $43.98 and a 12-month high of $63.45. The company's 50-day moving average price is $58.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.39.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The firm's revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

About Williams Companies

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.