Seaport Res Ptn Issues Pessimistic Estimate for WMB Earnings

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

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $56.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.66.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,154 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,946 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 4.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 56,871 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 14.4% in the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,445 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO lifted its position in Williams Companies by 441.8% in the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,322 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Finally, Accel Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $230,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.17%.

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.