Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02), Briefing.com reports. Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies updated its FY 2026 guidance to 2.200-2.380 EPS.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded up $1.88 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $69.73. 2,631,120 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,675,520. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $51.58 and a twelve month high of $71.58. The company has a market cap of $85.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.63, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.47.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 103.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, January 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $132,780.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 293,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,488,452.55. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $498,700. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 99.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 767 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,015 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 223.3% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,593 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.