Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the twenty research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and four have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.2667.

WMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th.

Key Headlines Impacting Williams Companies

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

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 103,369 shares of company stock worth $7,700,932 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 4,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $71.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.16. Williams Companies has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $77.41. The firm has a market cap of $87.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.61.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

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.