Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.53 Per Share

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 0.525 per share by the pipeline company on Monday, March 30th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a 5.0% increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50.

Williams Companies has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 9 years. Williams Companies has a payout ratio of 82.3% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities research analysts expect Williams Companies to earn $2.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 86.2%.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,407,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,074,933. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $66.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.91.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.90, for a total transaction of $123,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 297,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,418,035.50. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its stake in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 104.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.