Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $80.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $80.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WMB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.21.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.6%

WMB opened at $72.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.80. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $72.63. The company has a market cap 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase 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 Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Betterment LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 24,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Williams Companies

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)

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.