The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,450,000 shares, a drop of 18.2% from the October 31st total of 17,670,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. This represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 19.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,734,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,631,288,000 after buying an additional 5,697,605 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,117,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,985,000 after buying an additional 1,024,158 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 224.1% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,334,307 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 922,550 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its position in Williams Companies by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 2,989,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,461,000 after purchasing an additional 718,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,664,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $325,726,000 after acquiring an additional 618,056 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $0.38 on Friday, reaching $58.52. 3,638,531 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,555,747. The company’s 50-day moving average is $52.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.30. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $32.65 and a 1-year high of $60.36. The firm has a market cap of $71.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 80.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America began coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.79.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.