Electron Capital Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Electron Capital Partners disclosed a new stake in Williams Companies, buying 1,085,885 shares valued at about $65.3 million. The position now makes up roughly 3% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Williams Companies reported Q1 earnings of $0.73 per share, beating analyst expectations of $0.63, though revenue came in below estimates at $3.03 billion. The company also issued FY2026 EPS guidance of 2.20 to 2.38.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, or $2.10 annualized, implying a yield of about 2.9%. Meanwhile, analysts remain broadly positive, with several raising price targets and the stock carrying an average Buy rating.

Electron Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,085,885 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $65,273,000. Williams Companies makes up approximately 3.0% of Electron Capital Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Electron Capital Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Williams Companies at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,052,537,000 after acquiring an additional 883,245 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,086,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,991 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Williams Companies by 15.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,077,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668,950 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,768,298,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Williams Companies by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,018,017,000 after acquiring an additional 3,314,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $71.26 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $87.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $80.07.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm 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%. The firm's revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $82.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835. 0.47% of the stock is 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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