River Road Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 405,002 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $24,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.21.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 302,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,319,101.85. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.2%

WMB stock opened at $60.96 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.09%.

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.