Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Raises Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 950,538 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,417 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises 1.7% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $57,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,006 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,142,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $71.17 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.93 and a 200 day moving average of $65.35. The company has a market capitalization of $86.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.56 and a 1-year high of $76.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. 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 fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.75, for a total value of $143,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 289,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,747,158.25. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies 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.