Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Position Lifted by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 11.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 522,423 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,003 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $35,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Arrow Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 31,010 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,108,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 151,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,906 shares during the period. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,668 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,240,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 608,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $41,358,000 after purchasing an additional 4,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynch Investment Planning LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at $88,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: WMB recently moved above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling improving short-term and long-term momentum. These breakouts may attract technical traders and reinforce the view that the stock has established support near current levels. WMB 50-day moving average article WMB 200-day moving average article
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity points to bullish positioning: investors purchased about 151,361 WMB call options, roughly 997% above typical call volume. Options activity is speculative, but it suggests increased expectations for further gains. WMB options and moving average article
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to third-quarter results, with the Socrates Phase 1 project, the Momentum acquisition and strong natural-gas demand identified as potential growth drivers. Williams’ fee-based pipeline model also makes it a relatively defensive energy holding, including for power demand from data centers. Williams Q3 earnings preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Williams declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, payable December 28 to shareholders of record December 11. The $2.10 annualized payout represents a yield of approximately 2.8%, but the dividend was maintained rather than increased. Williams quarterly dividend announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Rising interest rates could pressure WMB’s valuation and increase financing costs, particularly given its relatively high leverage. Higher yields may also make the company’s dividend less attractive compared with cash and other income investments, while rising operating costs remain a risk ahead of earnings.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $92.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.06.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total value of $973,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,064.33. The trade was a 4.62% 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. Insiders sold 19,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,401,430 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $74.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $56.19 and a one year high of $80.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $72.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.13. The company has a market capitalization of $90.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 83.67%.

Williams Companies Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1908 as Williams Brothers, the company has evolved from an early pipeline contractor into a major operator of natural gas infrastructure in the United States.

Williams primarily gathers, processes, transports and stores natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its assets include interstate and regional pipelines, gas processing and fractionation facilities, storage operations, and gathering systems that connect producers with utilities, industrial customers, power generators and other energy markets.