Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Buys 11,539 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 9.6% in Q1, now owning 132,056 shares worth approximately $7.89 million.
• Williams Companies' earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.46, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49, alongside a year-over-year revenue increase of 19%.
• The company declared a $0.50 quarterly dividend to be paid on September 29th, representing a 3.5% annual yield, with a current payout ratio of 100.50%.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 132,056 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,539 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Partners Group Holding AG lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 791,331 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $47,290,000 after acquiring an additional 6,154 shares during the last quarter. RR Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 85.7% in the first quarter. RR Advisors LLC now owns 572,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,169,000 after purchasing an additional 264,000 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 11.4% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 23,954 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,452 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 8.9% in the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 64,951 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,934,000 after purchasing an additional 5,312 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 27.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.86.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded down $0.8110 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.9890. 4,663,233 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,711,600. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.98 and a 52-week high of $63.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,718,333.60. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Company 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.