Smith Salley Wealth Management Invests $1.05 Million in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Smith Salley Wealth Management opened a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter, buying 14,440 shares valued at about $1.05 million.
• Williams Companies reported quarterly EPS of $0.73, topping analyst estimates, though revenue of $3.03 billion came in below expectations and was slightly lower than a year ago.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share payable June 29, and Wall Street remains upbeat with a Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $82.40.

Smith Salley Wealth Management acquired a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 14,440 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,051,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A raised 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $74.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.41 and a 200 day moving average of $69.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $3,768,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $82.40.

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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