Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Position Lifted by CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,700,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 105,000 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up about 6.1% of CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $123,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.1% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 3,540 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% in the first quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 4,962 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 4.5% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 13,889 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1.8% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 129,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 83.7% during the 1st quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors now owns 25,331 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after purchasing an additional 11,539 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total value of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 283,159 shares in the company, valued at $20,999,071.44. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $73.09 on Monday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMB. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.94.

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.