Verity & Verity LLC Invests $507,000 in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 8,429 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $71.41 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.77 and a 200-day moving average of $68.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $87.23 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.61. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $152,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,924,589.65. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,762 shares of company stock valued at $6,088,112. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, March 27th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.40.

Williams Companies Profile

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.