Commerce Bank Invests $12.33 Million in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 165,815 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,327,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $8,262,000. Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $912,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $16,258,000. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Finally, TRB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Williams Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Williams Companies to $103, signaling substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and providing a constructive counterpoint to the earnings estimate cuts. Morgan Stanley Increases Williams Companies Price Target to $103
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s latest reported quarter was solid: Williams earned $0.50 per share, matching consensus, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded expectations and increased 9.8% year over year. Its fee-based pipeline operations provide relatively stable cash flows.
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors lowered its EPS forecasts across several periods, including fourth-quarter 2026 EPS to $0.57 from $0.60, first-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.55 from $0.59, second-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.40 from $0.48, and third-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.50 from $0.55.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also reduced its full-year 2027 EPS estimate to $2.07 from $2.28 and its 2028 forecast to $2.67 from $2.86. These revisions suggest analysts see weaker near- to medium-term earnings growth than previously expected and are likely the main reason the stock has decreased.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WMB. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total value of $973,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 268,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This trade represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,262,930. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $70.71 on Monday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.08 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.18. The company has a market cap of $86.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. Williams Companies’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.67%.

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.