Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Given New $78.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank Of Canada from $75.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.64% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WMB. Mizuho upgraded shares of Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.43.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.3%

NYSE WMB traded up $2.30 on Wednesday, reaching $71.14. The stock had a trading volume of 5,747,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,127,381. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $71.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.55. The company has a market capitalization of $86.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $132,780.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.7% during the fourth 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% in 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 period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th 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. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,575,898 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $923,383,000 after acquiring an additional 158,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $747,749,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Williams Companies

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on WMB to $80 and moved to an “overweight” rating, giving the stock visible analyst support and a notable implied upside. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Management and reporters flagged stronger 2026 profit prospects driven by new onshore and offshore pipeline projects and LNG activity — a growth story that supports midstream earnings expansion. Williams sees higher 2026 profit as pipeline projects drive growth (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Company Investor/Analyst‑Day messaging emphasized long‑run natural gas demand drivers (industrial reshoring, power for AI/data centers, and LNG exports), bolstering the bull case that WMB’s assets are positioned for secular volume growth. Analyst Day presentation (Williams)
• Neutral Sentiment: FY‑2026 EPS guidance was set at $2.20–$2.38 — a wide band that includes consensus, so it signals steady future earnings but leaves room for analyst model updates. Williams Delivers Another Year of Record Results (BusinessWire)
• Negative Sentiment: Reported Q4 EPS of $0.55 missed consensus (~$0.57–$0.58), a near‑term earnings disappointment even though revenue beat at $3.2B and management highlighted record results. WMB Misses Q4 Earnings Estimates (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Options flow showed a spike in put purchases (roughly 16,519 puts), indicating increased hedging or short/bearish positioning by traders ahead of/after the print.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling activity was reported (no insider buys), which investors sometimes view as a slight governance/near‑term confidence warning; institutional positioning remained mixed. QuiverQuant Q4 summary & insider activity

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.