US Capital Advisors Equities Analysts Decrease Earnings Estimates for The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) - Investment analysts at US Capital Advisors dropped their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Williams Companies in a report issued on Monday, April 29th. US Capital Advisors analyst J. Carreker now expects that the pipeline company will earn $0.49 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.50. US Capital Advisors currently has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Williams Companies' current full-year earnings is $1.83 per share. US Capital Advisors also issued estimates for Williams Companies' Q2 2024 earnings at $0.39 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.39 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $1.71 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.44 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.54 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.87 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.02 EPS.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on WMB. Truist Financial raised their target price on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.22.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.89. The company had a trading volume of 7,768,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,999,112. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $28.27 and a 52 week high of $39.76. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $37.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rheos Capital Works Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 660,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $22,988,000 after purchasing an additional 245,000 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 28.1% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 107,609 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,625,000 after acquiring an additional 23,579 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Williams Companies by 35.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $321,867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 45.3% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $220,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 3,338.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 352,104 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $12,264,000 after acquiring an additional 341,863 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 72.52%.

About Williams Companies

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.