Polaris Capital Management LLC Sells 68,200 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Polaris Capital Management trimmed its stake in Williams by 14.2%, selling 68,200 shares in Q4 and now holds 411,500 shares worth about $24.74 million (≈2.1% of its portfolio).
• Insiders have been selling recently—SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares and Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares; insiders disposed of 53,369 shares (~$3.91 million) in the last 90 days and now own 0.47% of the stock.
• Williams raised its quarterly dividend to $0.525 (annualized $2.10, yield ~2.9%) and several analysts raised price targets, leaving a MarketBeat consensus rating of Buy with an average target near $78.60.

Polaris Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 411,500 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 68,200 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises about 2.1% of Polaris Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Polaris Capital Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $24,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,540,556 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $287,644,000 after purchasing an additional 134,777 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 185.6% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 43,069 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,728,000 after purchasing an additional 27,987 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 184,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,664,000 after purchasing an additional 16,027 shares during the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 75.9% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 125,290 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,937,000 after purchasing an additional 54,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3,344.8% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 17,465 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 16,958 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,968,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,377,154.28. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $72.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.58. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 98.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $78.60.

Williams Companies 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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