M&T Bank Corp Increases Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 15.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 106,715 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 13,986 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 89.5% in the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,044 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 2,382 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 62,610 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 3,489 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 279,355 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $16,694,000 after purchasing an additional 11,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% in the first quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 17,902 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of WMB opened at $61.54 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55. The firm has a market cap of $75.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.72, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,319,101.85. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.21.

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.