Posts for Ticker ‘WMB’

Williams, Other Services Companies in Venezuela’s Sights (WMB, HAL, SLB, BJS, BHI)

The Venezuelan government passed a law permitting the nationalization of oil field services companies, compensating companies for expropriating assets by issuing bonds instead of paying with cash. The law could even lead to the annulment of existing contracts.  Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) appears to be the first target, and Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE:SLB), BJ Services Company (NYSE:BJS), and Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE:BHI) could all be on the list.

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Posted on: May 8, 2009 – 9:55 am in Emerging Markets, Oil & Gas, Politics, , , , ,

Williams and the Venezuelan Pokey (WMB)

burning-money-pic30Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE: WMB) is getting to disclose just how fun it can be in dealing with a volatile regime in Latin America.  Venezuela is front and center, and now the company plans to post non-cash charges to net income of about $241 million in the first-quarter of 2009.  In Venezuela, Williams’ midstream business has investments in and operates entities that provide compression, gas injection, extraction, and other services to Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) under long-term agreements. The company’s initial investment in Venezuela began in November 1997  before all the shenanigans started being pulled by Hugo Chavez when he was elected in 1998.
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Posted on: April 29, 2009 – 9:00 am in Emerging Markets, Oil & Gas,

Atlas Lightens its Load (APL, SEP, WMB)

money-stack-image15Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL) will sell its NOARK natural gas gathering and interstate transport system to Spectra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:SEP) for $300 million in cash. The company’s president and CEO said that the cash from this sale, plus the cash from an earlier transaction with the Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB), will be used to reduce the company’s debt by $400 million. Atlas had about $1.5 billion in long-term debt at the end of December 2008.
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Posted on: April 8, 2009 – 8:59 am in Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, , ,

Williams Issues Private Debt (WMB, STT, GS)

money-stack-image2The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) announced this morning that it was “initiating a private debt issuance to certain institutional investors.” The notes have not been registered with the SEC and will not be available for public sale.
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Posted on: February 26, 2009 – 11:36 am in Bonds, Oil & Gas, Secondary Offering, , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (T, DRYS, XOM, ITT, MOT, VZ, HBAN, RF, WMB, ZION)

These are ten of the top analyst upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street this Monday morning with more than two hours until the market opens:

  • AT&T (T) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • DryShips (DRYS) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
  • Exxon Mobil (XOM) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • ITT (ITT) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Motorola (MOT) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Verizon (VZ) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
  • Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
  • Regions Financial (RF) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
  • Williams Cos. (WMB) Cut to Underperform at RBX.
  • Zions Bancorp (ZION) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.

Jon C. Ogg
February 23, 2009

Posted on: February 23, 2009 – 7:29 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Carl Icahn Holdings Show No Immunity To Market (IEP, BIIB, AMLN, MOT, YHOO, WMB, APC, TWX, TWC, AMD, TELK, QRCP, LEA, TIN, JCP)

Billionaire and activist investor Carl Icahn has made some  large changes to his portfolio holdings.  He and Icahn Capital, L.P. have not been immune to the market sell-off as you have seen in his Icahn Enterprises, L.P. (NYSE: IEP) share performance.  Here we have commented on some of his larger stakes and larger changes or exits in positions.

Stock Tickers noted as IEP, BIIB, AMLN, MOT, YHOO, WMB, APC, TWX, TWC, AMD, TELK, QRCP, LEA, TIN, and JCP.
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Posted on: February 14, 2009 – 2:16 pm in Activist Investor, Insider Activity, Value Investing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good News Gets Scarce in the Energy Business (WNR, WMB, SRE)

Oil_gas_pipeline_picThere’s no good news coming from Western Refining (NYSE:WNR) today. The company reported second quarter earnings of $8.2 million (EPS of $0.12) versus $155 million and EPS of $2.29 for the same period a year ago. The culprit, of course, is lower refining margins. Analysts expected EPS of $0.28, so Western achieved a clear miss.

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Posted on: August 7, 2008 – 9:46 am in Oil & Gas, , ,

Williams Companies Challenges Multi-Year Highs on Guidance (WMB)

Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE: WMB) has just increased its earnings guidance for 2008 and 2009. 

Its 2008 consolidated recurring segment profit guidance to a range of $3.1 to $3.65 Billion and $2.30 to $2.80 EPS, up from its previous ranges of $2.5 to $3.0 Billion and $1.70 to $2.10.  First Call has 2008 estimates of $2.21 EPS.

For 2009, Williams its range to $2.9 to $3.8 Billion and earnings per share to a range of $2.05 to $2.90 EPS, up from its Prior ranges of $2.6 to $3.2 Billion and $1.80 to $2.30 EPS.  First Call has 2009 estimates at $2.48 EPS.

This data is being shown ahead of Williams’ analyst day, and the company has also updated its hedging programs as well as its investment opportunities and future project opportunities.

Trading volume is still thin since we have almost 2 hours to the open, but shares are indicated north of $40.60 in early-bird trading after a $39.13 close yesterday.  The 52-week trading range has been $26.82 to $40.58.

Jon C. Ogg
June 25, 2008

Posted on: June 25, 2008 – 6:40 am in Oil & Gas,

Legislation and Risks To Natural Gas Development (CHK, WMB, XTO, OXY, APA, EP, DVN)

The American Exploration and Production Council (AXPC) today released a study by Wood Mackenzie, an energy consulting firm, claiming that costs to the natural gas industry associated with the pending alterations to the Lieberman/Warner Climate Security Act of 2007 put at risk the development of US natural gas resources. The 25-member council includes Chesapeake (NYSE:CHK), Williams (NYSE:WMB), XTO Energy (NYSE:XTO), Occidental (NYSE:OXY), Apache (NYSE:APA), El Paso (NYSE:EP), and Devon (NYSE:DVN).

Here’s the money quote from the AXPC press release: "…it is likely that a significant share of
government-imposed consumer emission allowance costs assessed on processors would actually be paid by exploration and production companies in the near term as funds are diverted, contracts are renegotiated, and the market adjusts to this new commodity burden." The conclusion is that if E&P companies must pay for carbon allowances, they will spend less on production, prices for natural gas will rise, and consumers will face higher prices due to limited availability on natural gas.

Well, you can’t blame gas producers for trying, but this is akin to yelling "Boo!" during a horror movie: who cares? What the producers are probably really upset about is the Act’s restriction on how much the cost of the allowances they will be allowed to recover from customers. If emission costs are borne 100% by producers, the Wood Mackenzie study estimates that nearly 50% of projected production for 2012-2017 becomes uneconomic to produce. If 50% of emissions costs are forced on producers, up to 14% of production becomes uneconomic.

The price of natural gas for US consumers is likely to depend far more on the spot price of LNG than it is on the cost of carbon allowances. If LNG prices are high (and there’s every reason to believe they will be), the price of US-produced natural gas will also be high. The AXPC may be fighting an unnecessary battle on this issue. Congress has determined that the best way to assess carbon allowances is at the wellhead or the point of import. Once that’s done, producers, processors, and consumers are treated the same. The producers might not like it, but they may just have to deal with it.

George Soros noted that speculation is driving up energy prices, and we also saw T. Boone Pickens call for $150 per barrel for oil by the end of this year.

Paul Ausick
May 29, 2008

Posted on: May 29, 2008 – 10:31 am in Oil & Gas, Politics, , , , , , ,

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (MT, DISCA, FNSR, GILD, GMXR, JDSU, LLTC, NU, UEIC, WMB)

These are some of the research calls we are looking at this morning that are impacting shares in early pre-market trading:

  • Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Discovery Holding (NASDAQ: DISCA) raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  • Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
  • Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) downgraded to Market Perform from outperform at Bernstein Research.
  • GMX Resources (NASDAQ: GMXR) started as Buy at Jefferies.
  • JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU) started as Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
  • Linear Tech (NASDAQ: LLTC) raised to Buy from hold at UBS.
  • Northeast Utilities (NYSE: NU) raised to Buy from hold at UBS.
  • Universal Electronics (NASDAQ: UEIC) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  • Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) raised to Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Jon C. Ogg
February 22, 2008

Posted on: February 22, 2008 – 7:18 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Icahn’s Top Holdings (APC, BEAS, BIIB, CSX, LEA, M, MOT, JCP, REGN, TIN, TWX, TWC, UNM, WMB)

Billionaire activist investor and financier Carl Icahn has released the total holdings in an SEC filing for the period end December 31, 2007 for  ICAHN CAPITAL, LP.

As Carl Icahn and his friends are multi-billionaires, we have eliminated the positions under $50 million since smaller postions are hardly worth his time and effort. The left column is the dollar amounts and the second number is the number of shares:

  • ANADARKO PETROLEUM (NYSE: APC) $970,600,000  14,775,468 shares
  • BEA SYSTEMS (NASDAQ: BEAS)  $654,176,000; 41,456,016 shares
  • BIOGEN IDEC (NASDAQ: BIIB)  $469,973,000; 8,256,723 shares
  • CSX CORP (NYSE: CSX) $128,422,000; 2,920,000
  • LEAR CORP (NYSE: LEA) 265,424,000; 9,595,954 shares
  • MACYS (NYSE: M)  $133,610,000; 5,164,660 shares
  • MOTOROLA (NYSE: MOT) $969,881,000; 60,466,400 shares
  • J.C.PENNEY (NYSE: JCP)  $183,274,000; 4,166,271 shares
  • REGENERON PHARMA (NASDAQ: REGN)  $60,568,000; 2,508,001 shares
  • TEMPLE INLAND (NYSE: TIN) $71,901,000; 3,448,488 shares
  • TIME WARNER CABLE (NYSE: TWC) $130,027,000; 4,711,128 shares
  • TIME WARNER INC (NYSE: TWX) $213,526,000; 12,933,159
  • UNUM GROUP (NYSE: UNM) $95,659,000; 4,020,960 shares
  • WILLIAMS COS INC (NYSE: WMB)  $173,201,000; 4,840,724 shares

Jon C. Ogg
February 14, 2008

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in any of the companies he covers.  Join the 24/7 Wall St. open email distribution list to hear of spin-offs, emerging IPO, break-up, reorganization, and other special situation stocks.

Posted on: February 14, 2008 – 11:58 am in Activist Investor, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Williams Cos., Insists On Shareholder Rewards (WMB, WPZ, DVN, BSC)

The bus is filling up with energy industry passengers wanting to create a master limited partnership (MLP) from their midstream assets. Earlier this week Devon (NYSE:DVN) got on-board and today, Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) announced that it is placing its natural gas pipelines into a new MLP. WMB said that proceeds from the IPO will be used to fund growth projects and for "general corporate purposes." In August 2005, WMB completed an IPO for another MLP, Willliams Partners L.P. (NYSE:WPZ), and WMB noted in this announcement that WPZ unitholders have realized a return of 137% since that IPO.

WMB also announced a $1B stock buyback, which brings its total buybacks to just over $10B from a board-authorized total of $20B. WMB also announced an agreement with Bear Stearns (NYSE:BSC) in May to sell essentially all of its electric power generation assets to BSC for about $512MM.

The primary asset in the new MLP will be WMB’s Northwest pipeline, a 3,900-mile bi-directional system that supplies the Pacific Northwest with natural gas from the San Juan Basin, Canada, and the northern Rockies. WMB is not including its Transco system, which hauls gas from the Gulf Coast to the U.S. northeast, nor is the Gulfstream pipeline, from Mississippi to central Florida. WMB’s Transco pipeline is the jewel in its midstream assets. It serves a huge market along the Atlantic seaboard and is close enough to the coast that if LNG terminals are ever built, Transco is a natural connection point to move that gas to northeast markets.

In the past 5 years, WMB stock has risen from a low of $1.40 in October 2002, to yesterday’s close at $34.39. Today’s news bumped the share price by $1.56 almost instantly, and that is good news for WMB shareholders. But the company’s P/E ratio for the trailing twelve months is 66.36. That would be dot.com territory for a company with a mean target price of $35.90. The saving grace: a $21 Billion market cap and a 2007-forward P/E of 26 if it hits targets.

Paul Ausick
July 20, 2007

Posted on: July 20, 2007 – 9:51 am in IPOs, Oil & Gas, Shareholder Issues, Stock Buybacks, , , ,

Short Selling Energy, Oil & Gas Stocks (June 2007)

Stock Tickers: VLO, XOM, CVX, COP, SLB, HAL, OIH, HES, PBR, MRO, BHI, RIG, BJS, WMB, GSF, BP, VLO, WFT, NOV, HES

Higher and higher oil prices got you down?  They definitely don’t do wonder for the people increasing their short selling bets against stocks across the various groups of the Oil & Gas sector.  Here is a list of many key (mostly US-based) stocks spread across the various segments inside the energy patch.  It’s amazing that short selling rises as commodity prices biased upward and oil close to $70.00 per barrel.

Increases in short interest:

Stock (Ticker)                                  JUNE    MAY            Change
Exxon Mobil (XOM)                       49.65M   46.6M         +6.55%
Chevron (CVX)                              31.17M   30.79M      +1.2% 
ConocoPhillips (COP)                21.38M    17.37M      +23%
Marathon Oil (MRO)                     11.65M    5.62M        +3.6%      
Baker Hughes (BHI)                    15.38M    13.44M     +14.4% 
Transocean (RIG)                        16.27M    14.7M        +10.6%    
BJ Services (BJS)                         21.57M    19.21M     +12.3%
‘PetroBras’ (PBR)                            4.84M      3.15M       +53%
Williams Companies (WMB)      20.25M     17.93M     +12.9%
Oil Service HOLDRs(OIH)           20.9M     19.0M         +10%
GloabalSantaFe (GSF)                 10.7M      9.24M        +15.8%

Decreases in short interest

Stock (Ticker)                                  JUNE         MAY        Change
BP plc (BP)                                     5.945M       6.61M        -10%
Valero (VLO)                                   29.06M      46.05M      -36.8%
Schlumberger (SLB)                     20.94M      31.28M      -30%
Halliburton (HAL)                           44.27M      47.32M      -6.4%
Weatherford (WFT)                        17.93M      19.22M      -6.7%
Nat’l Oilwell Varco (NOV)               7.59M        8.06M        -5.8%
Hess Corp. (HES)                             6.4M        6.42M        -0.4%

Jon C. Ogg
June 22, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: June 22, 2007 – 1:40 pm in Oil & Gas, Short Interest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,