Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group increased its Williams Companies stake by 11% in the second quarter, adding 148,936 shares to own 1.51 million shares valued at approximately $112.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.44% of WMB.
• Williams Companies reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, matching estimates, while revenue rose 9.8% year over year to $3.05 billion and exceeded expectations. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, representing a 2.8% yield.
• Analysts maintain a favorable outlook, with the stock carrying an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $85.33, above its reported trading price of $75.04.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,507,232 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 148,936 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.12% of Williams Companies worth $112,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of WMB opened at $75.04 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $73.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 83.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $85.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total value of $141,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 281,159 shares in the company, valued at $19,863,883.35. This trade represents a 0.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

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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