Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group increased its stake in Williams Companies by 86.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 908,349 additional shares and lifting its position to 1,958,754 shares worth about $117.7 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with multiple firms raising price targets and the stock carrying an average Buy rating; the consensus price target is $82.40.
• Williams reported $0.73 EPS for the latest quarter, topping estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 2.9%.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 86.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,958,754 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 908,349 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned 0.16% of Williams Companies worth $117,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $4,627,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 261,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $15,689,000 after acquiring an additional 17,900 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 164,900 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,912,000 after acquiring an additional 13,438 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,105,570 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $125,839,000 after acquiring an additional 365,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 57,550 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,459,000 after acquiring an additional 20,740 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2%

WMB stock opened at $71.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $87.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.30, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $80.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.08.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The company 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%. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,924,589.65. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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