Heronetta Management L.P. Cuts Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Heronetta Management L.P. cut its Williams Companies stake by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 26,125 shares and leaving it with 250,152 shares valued at about $15.0 million.
• Williams Companies reported mixed quarterly results, beating EPS expectations with $0.73 per share but missing revenue estimates at $3.03 billion; it also maintained FY 2026 guidance of 2.20 to 2.38 EPS.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, or $2.10 annualized, for a 2.8% yield, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and average target price of $80.27.

Heronetta Management L.P. reduced its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 26,125 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up 9.9% of Heronetta Management L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Heronetta Management L.P.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 99.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 767 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 324.7% in the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 807 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $74.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $73.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.30. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $77.41. The stock has a market cap of $90.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.61.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The business's revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business 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 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 103,369 shares of company stock valued at $7,700,932 in the last ninety days. 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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