Seaport Res Ptn Has Bearish Forecast for WMB FY2024 Earnings

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their FY2024 earnings 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 anticipates that the pipeline company will post earnings per share of $1.91 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $1.94. The consensus estimate for Williams Companies’ current full-year earnings is $1.92 per share.

WMB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their target price 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 initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.07.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of WMB opened at $57.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $69.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.53 and a 200 day moving average of $46.74. Williams Companies has a 52-week low of $32.65 and a 52-week high of $60.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,482,000. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 77,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,556,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in Williams Companies by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 82,301 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,756,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Williams Companies by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 19,533 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 6,409 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 41,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio 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.