Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $83.00

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $78.00 to $83.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

WMB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.27.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $71.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.83 billion, a PE ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $73.22 and its 200-day moving average is $66.16. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $77.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,377,154.28. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 103,369 shares of company stock worth $7,700,932. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $740,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $35,734,000 after purchasing an additional 11,926 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 160.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,366,000 after purchasing an additional 101,574 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Williams Companies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several Wall Street firms turned more bullish on Williams Companies, with TD Cowen raising its price target to $87 and RBC lifting its target to $83, while other recent notes reiterated buy/outperform views. That suggests analysts still see meaningful upside in WMB’s growth and cash-flow profile. Analyst price target coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat expectations, with adjusted EPS of $0.73 versus estimates of $0.63, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.525 per share. For income-focused investors, the stronger payout and earnings outperformance help support sentiment. Q1 earnings and market reaction
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary continues to highlight Williams’ exposure to natural gas demand from data centers and AI infrastructure, which could provide a long-term growth tailwind if the company executes well on its project pipeline. AI power boom article
• Neutral Sentiment: Williams continues to be described as a company in “record quarter” mode, with a large investment slate aimed at power innovation and data-center demand. That could support a higher valuation over time, but it depends on successful execution. Record quarter coverage
• Negative Sentiment: CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares in a recent SEC filing, and the sale follows a pattern of insider selling at WMB over the past several months. Insider sales can weigh on sentiment, even if they do not necessarily signal a change in fundamentals. SEC Form 4 — insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also watching leverage and capex pressure, as market discussion points to higher debt and a sizable growth spending plan that could constrain financial flexibility if project returns take time to materialize. Balance sheet concerns

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.