Natixis Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC cut its Williams Companies stake by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 16,728 shares and ending with about 1.57 million shares valued at roughly $94.3 million.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share, though revenue came in below estimates. The company also raised its FY2026 EPS guidance to $2.20-$2.38.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, implying an annualized payout of $2.10 and a yield of about 2.9%. Several analysts remain bullish, with a consensus rating of “Buy” and a target price around $82.40.

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,567,997 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 16,728 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $94,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. 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 note on Tuesday, May 26th. 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 note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.40.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $71.23 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $73.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $80.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. Williams Companies's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 78,762 shares of company stock valued at $5,937,632 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus raised its price target on Williams Companies, highlighting the company’s large role in U.S. natural gas infrastructure and its position among the better-liked energy stocks, which can reinforce investor confidence. The Williams Companies (WMB) Price Target Raised by $2 at Argus
• Positive Sentiment: Broader midstream and gas-infrastructure coverage has been constructive, citing robust gas backlogs, LNG export growth, and rising power demand from data centers as tailwinds for natural-gas-focused pipeline companies like WMB. Midstream: Robust Gas Backlogs Drive Growth Visibility
• Positive Sentiment: A Zacks article compared WMB favorably as a value stock versus peer Ultrapar, which may help keep valuation-focused investors interested. UGP or WMB: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The company expanded funding flexibility by adding new credit lines and filing a shelf registration, which gives Williams more financial optionality but also raises the possibility of future share issuance. Williams Companies Expands Funding Options With New Credit Lines And Equity Shelf
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors trimmed earnings estimates for several future periods, including FY2027 and FY2028, which can pressure sentiment if investors view the cuts as a sign of slower profit growth ahead. Williams Companies research notes and estimates

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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