Williams Companies (WMB) Declares $0.45 Dividend

Williams Companies said on January 31, 2023 that its board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share ($1.79 annualized). Shareholders of record as of March 10, 2023 will receive the payment on March 27, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.42 per share.

At the current share price of $31.86 / share, the stock's dividend yield is 5.62%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 6.23%, the lowest has been 4.07%, and the highest has been 14.35%. The standard deviation of yields is 1.42 (n=237).

The current dividend yield is 0.43 standard deviations below the historical average.

Additionally, the company's dividend payout ratio is 1.03. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company's income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company's income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend - not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company's 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.06%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 20.07% Upside

As of February 2, 2023, the average one-year price target for Williams Companies is $38.26. The forecasts range from a low of $30.30 to a high of $44.10. The average price target represents an increase of 20.07% from its latest reported closing price of $31.86.

The projected annual revenue for Williams Companies is $12,323MM, an increase of 7.25%. The projected annual EPS is $1.79, an increase of 9.15%.

Fund Sentiment

There are 2008 funds or institutions reporting positions in Williams Companies. This is an increase of 15 owner(s) or 0.75%.

Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to US:WMB is 0.5401%, a decrease of 2.3631%. Total shares owned by institutions decreased in the last three months by 0.72% to 1,213,859K shares.

What are large shareholders doing?

Dodge & Cox holds 49,730,496 shares representing 4.08% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 62,586,937 shares, representing a decrease of 25.85%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in WMB by 20.21% over the last quarter.

Bank Of America holds 42,489,248 shares representing 3.49% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 37,955,296 shares, representing an increase of 10.67%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in WMB by 72.73% over the last quarter.

VTSMX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 36,320,375 shares representing 2.98% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 35,875,061 shares, representing an increase of 1.23%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in WMB by 3.19% over the last quarter.

XLE - The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund holds 35,599,797 shares representing 2.92% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 34,036,641 shares, representing an increase of 4.39%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in WMB by 3.36% over the last quarter.

DODGX - Dodge & Cox Stock Fund holds 34,062,674 shares representing 2.80% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 42,940,309 shares, representing a decrease of 26.06%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in WMB by 21.64% over the last quarter.

Williams Cos Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Williams is committed to being the leader in providing infrastructure that safely delivers natural gas products to reliably fuel the clean energy economy. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Williams is an industry-leading, investment grade C-Corp with operations across the natural gas value chain including gathering, processing, interstate transportation and storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids. With major positions in top U.S. supply basins, Williams connects the best supplies with the growing demand for clean energy. Williams owns and operates more than 30,000 miles of pipelines system wide - including Transco, the nation's largest volume and fastest growing pipeline - and handles approximately 30 percent of the natural gas in the United States that is used every day for clean-power generation, heating and industrial use.

This story originally appeared on Fintel.