Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $78.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target upped by Royal Bank Of Canada from $75.00 to $78.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on WMB. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Mizuho upgraded Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.21.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $72.29 on Wednesday. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $72.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $88.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.69 and a 200-day moving average of $60.80.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,488,452.55. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,246 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,528,000 after acquiring an additional 7,464 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 92,116 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,786,000 after acquiring an additional 21,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,835 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 3,070 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Williams Companies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank upgraded WMB from “sector perform” to “sector outperform” and raised its price target to $84, signaling stronger conviction and a material upside from recent levels. Scotiabank upgrades Williams Companies (WMB)
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $81 and moved to a “buy” view — another major analyst endorsement that supports further upside and likely helped buying interest. Citigroup raises WMB price target to $81 (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus increased its target to $78 and kept a “buy” rating, adding to the cluster of positive analyst revisions and reinforcing expectations for near-term share appreciation. Stifel raises WMB target to $78 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor/Analyst Day transcript (Seeking Alpha) provided management commentary and strategic detail that investors can use to vet guidance and capital-allocation priorities; such details help underpin analyst re-ratings but are informational rather than immediately catalytic. The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) Analyst/Investor Day Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: A Benzinga retrospective on 10‑year returns is informational for long-term investors but unlikely to move shares materially today. If You Invested $100 In Williams Companies…
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results: Williams slightly missed EPS estimates (reported EPS below consensus) though revenue beat; management flagged 2026 growth capital of $6.1–$6.7B and maintenance capex of $850–$950M — higher near-term spending that could pressure free cash flow and put focus on funding and returns. Williams Companies Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Beat (Zacks)

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.