Hilltop National Bank Takes Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Hilltop National Bank has acquired a new stake in Williams Companies, purchasing 12,974 shares valued at approximately $815,000 in the second quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors have recently adjusted their stakes in Williams Companies, with hedge funds owning over 86% of the company's stock.
• Williams Companies experienced a decline in quarterly earnings, reporting an EPS of $0.46, missing the consensus estimate by $0.03, while revenue increased by 19% year-over-year.

Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 12,974 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $815,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock worth $497,715 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. TD Cowen began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Cibc World Mkts raised Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.53.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $64.09 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $59.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.14 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.65. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $47.52 and a one year high of $65.55.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business's revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Williams Companies's 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.

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