Empowered Funds LLC Has $7.99 Million Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 327.3% during the first quarter, now holding $7.99 million worth of shares.
• Williams Companies announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing a yield of 3.4%
• The company's stock has seen a 1.9% increase, with recent earnings reporting an EPS of $0.46, slightly below analysts' expectations.

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 327.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,704 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 102,411 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $319,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 10.6% during the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 80,481 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,810,000 after acquiring an additional 7,709 shares during the period. Adalta Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 16.6% during the first quarter. Adalta Capital Management LLC now owns 3,615 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 32.2% in the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 32,548 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 7,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 473.1% in the 1st quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 4,562 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 3,766 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.84. 5,630,379 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,573,647. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.51 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $58.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $71.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 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 the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 100.50%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,500 shares of company stock worth $623,115 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. CIBC raised shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.86.

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.