Seaport Res Ptn Issues Pessimistic Outlook for WMB Earnings

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) – Equities researchers at Seaport Res Ptn lowered their FY2026 EPS estimates for Williams Companies in a research note issued to investors on Monday, April 28th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst S. Sibal now expects that the pipeline company will earn $2.17 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.20. The consensus estimate for Williams Companies’ current full-year earnings is $2.08 per share.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.77.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.38. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $38.01 and a 1-year high of $61.67. The firm has a market cap of $71.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.29%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,229.10. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,213 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,687,797,000 after buying an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Williams Companies by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $824,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,618 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $575,103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

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.