Hilltop Holdings Inc. Sells 19,004 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Hilltop Holdings Inc. reduced its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 46.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,273 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 19,004 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,627,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 261,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,689,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares in the last quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 525,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $31,572,000 after buying an additional 150,032 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 164,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,912,000 after buying an additional 13,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 57,550 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,459,000 after buying an additional 20,740 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $73.96 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.81. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $80.07. The company has a market capitalization of $90.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.56.

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.