Great Lakes Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. by 32.5% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 15,524 shares, which raised the total value of their investment to approximately $3.78 million.
• Williams Companies recently reported earnings of $0.46 per share, missing analysts' expectations, with revenue also lower than forecast; however, the company experienced a 19.0% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, providing a dividend yield of 3.5%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 12th.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 32.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,238 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,524 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $677,623,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,370 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 34.0% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $674,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,988 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 6,407.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $133,772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,458,270 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $349,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920,189 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB traded down $0.49 on Friday, reaching $58.84. The company had a trading volume of 5,630,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,573,647. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.51 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.41.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 100.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WMB. TD Cowen began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Argus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.86.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,500 shares of company stock worth $623,115. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.