Canal Insurance CO Has $3.01 Million Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Canal Insurance CO cut its stake in Williams Companies by 54.5% in Q4, ending the period with 50,000 shares worth about $3.01 million after selling 60,000 shares.
• Williams beat Q1 EPS expectations ($0.73 vs. $0.63) but missed revenue estimates; management set FY2026 guidance of 2.200–2.380 EPS and raised the quarterly dividend to $0.525 ($2.10 annualized, ~2.9% yield).
• Several analysts raised price targets and the consensus rating is a Buy (consensus target $80.13), though investors face execution and balance‑sheet risks from ~\$7B growth capex, higher leverage (~4.1x) and notable insider selling (CFO sold 50,000 shares; insiders sold 103,369 shares last quarter).

Canal Insurance CO lessened its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 54.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 60,000 shares during the quarter. Canal Insurance CO's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A increased 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 buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 99.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 767 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc increased its stake in Williams Companies by 324.7% in the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 807 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $73.05 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $73.22 and its 200-day moving average is $66.16. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $77.41. The firm has a market cap of $89.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Key Headlines Impacting Williams Companies

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views (TD Cowen to $87, RBC and Stifel increases), signaling analyst conviction in WMB’s growth runway. Analyst price target coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results: adjusted EPS $0.73 beat estimates and management raised the annual dividend to $2.10 — both support income-oriented investor demand and validate near-term cash flow. Q1 earnings and market reaction
• Neutral Sentiment: Growth narrative: analysts and press highlight WMB’s positioning to supply power/natural gas for AI data centers, LNG exports and gas switching — a structural demand tailwind but one that requires successful project execution. AI data center coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Company messaging and press coverage frame Q1 as a “record” quarter and outline a $5.1B investment slate into power innovation (AI/data centers), which could re-rate the stock if executed but adds execution complexity. Record quarter coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Balance-sheet and execution risks: guidance and commentary point to heavy growth capex (~$7B noted in market discussion) and higher leverage (consensus ~4.1x), which could pressure credit metrics and limit optionality. Balance sheet concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares this week (SEC filing), and platform data show multiple insider sales in recent months — a potential negative signal for investor sentiment. SEC Form 4 — insider sale

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 287,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 103,369 shares of company stock worth $7,700,932 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Williams Companies

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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