Seaport Res Ptn Issues Pessimistic Outlook for WMB Earnings

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn decreased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Williams Companies in a note issued to investors on Monday, December 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn analyst S. Sibal now forecasts that the pipeline company will post earnings per share of $1.91 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $1.94. The consensus estimate for Williams Companies’ current full-year earnings is $1.92 per share.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $56.58 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $53.06 and a 200 day moving average of $46.60. The company has a market capitalization of $68.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.05. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 80.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 51,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,370,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Williams Companies by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,617,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,130,000 after buying an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 1,855.7% in the third quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 42,029 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,918,000 after buying an additional 39,880 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in Williams Companies by 402.9% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 91,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,199,000 after buying an additional 73,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 248,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,335,000 after purchasing an additional 16,064 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.