Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR has increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 27.9%, holding 143,305 shares valued at $9 million as reported in its latest SEC filing.
• Williams Companies reported a Q2 earnings miss with an EPS of $0.46, below analysts' expectations of $0.49, and revenue of $2.78 billion compared to estimates of $2.90 billion.
• The company set its FY 2025 earnings guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.50, translating to an annualized yield of 3.2%.

Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 143,305 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 31,252 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,489,000 after buying an additional 6,816 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 362.5% in the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,465,991 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $87,608,000 after buying an additional 1,149,045 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $327,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,788 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its position in Williams Companies by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 709,113 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $42,377,000 after purchasing an additional 25,016 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $63.10 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $60.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.22. The company has a market cap of $76.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.46 and a 52-week high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, September 19th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $66.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. CIBC raised shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.73.

Williams Companies 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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