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

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.1%, selling 154,456 shares, and now owns approximately 0.08% of the company, valued at $60,982,000.
• The earnings report for Williams Companies showed earnings per share of $0.46, which missed the consensus estimate by $0.03, while the company set FY 2025 guidance between 2.010-2.190 EPS.
• Williams Companies has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.00 and a yield of 3.5%.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,020,442 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 154,456 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of Williams Companies worth $60,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 4,490.9% during the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $623,115. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. CIBC raised Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.86.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $0.27 on Monday, reaching $56.93. 4,668,452 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,619,154. The firm has a market cap of $69.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.39. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.98 and a fifty-two week high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.