Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Citigroup from $70.00 to $81.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.05% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on WMB. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.21.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $72.29 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.80. Williams Companies has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $72.63. The company has a market cap of $88.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

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

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares in the company, valued at $19,488,452.55. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,052,537,000 after buying an additional 883,245 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,086,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,991 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,077,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,668,950 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,018,017,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,281,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,748,126 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines 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)

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.