Bank of Nova Scotia Decreases Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 16.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 482,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 93,182 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $30,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.9% in the third quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 2.1% in the third quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 9.0% during the third quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $73.88 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $76.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.53, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day moving average is $68.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.17.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 98.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.50.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,377,154.28. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 48,471 shares of company stock valued at $3,557,023 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.