Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 261,259 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,257,555 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 261,259 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up about 2.6% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.68% of Williams Companies worth $523,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 81.3% in the 2nd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 582 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.36.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $74.75 on Monday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.58 and a 52 week high of $75.59. The company has a market capitalization of $91.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,968,840.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,377,154.28. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 41,107 shares of company stock worth $2,982,535 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.