Cibc World Market Inc. Makes New $45.10 Million Investment in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 606,703 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,102,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 5,988 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,153 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.60.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $70.71 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $73.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.18. 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 $56.08 and a one year high of $80.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.59.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.67%.

Key Stories Impacting Williams Companies

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Williams Companies to $103, signaling substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and providing a constructive counterpoint to the earnings estimate cuts. Morgan Stanley Increases Williams Companies Price Target to $103
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s latest reported quarter was solid: Williams earned $0.50 per share, matching consensus, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded expectations and increased 9.8% year over year. Its fee-based pipeline operations provide relatively stable cash flows.
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors lowered its EPS forecasts across several periods, including fourth-quarter 2026 EPS to $0.57 from $0.60, first-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.55 from $0.59, second-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.40 from $0.48, and third-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.50 from $0.55.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also reduced its full-year 2027 EPS estimate to $2.07 from $2.28 and its 2028 forecast to $2.67 from $2.86. These revisions suggest analysts see weaker near- to medium-term earnings growth than previously expected and are likely the main reason the stock has decreased.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This trade represents a 4.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,262,930. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

About Williams Companies

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.