Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Price Target Raised to $87.00 at TD Cowen

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price target upped by TD Cowen from $81.00 to $87.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. 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 research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.13.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.0%

WMB opened at $73.05 on Thursday. Williams Companies has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $77.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.22 and a 200-day moving average of $66.16. 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 company has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.61.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors 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 is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.11%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 103,369 shares of company stock worth $7,700,932. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.0% in 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 period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,096,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views (TD Cowen to $87, RBC and Stifel increases), signaling analyst conviction in WMB’s growth runway. Analyst price target coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results: adjusted EPS $0.73 beat estimates and management raised the annual dividend to $2.10 — both support income-oriented investor demand and validate near-term cash flow. Q1 earnings and market reaction
• Neutral Sentiment: Growth narrative: analysts and press highlight WMB’s positioning to supply power/natural gas for AI data centers, LNG exports and gas switching — a structural demand tailwind but one that requires successful project execution. AI data center coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Company messaging and press coverage frame Q1 as a “record” quarter and outline a $5.1B investment slate into power innovation (AI/data centers), which could re-rate the stock if executed but adds execution complexity. Record quarter coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Balance-sheet and execution risks: guidance and commentary point to heavy growth capex (~$7B noted in market discussion) and higher leverage (consensus ~4.1x), which could pressure credit metrics and limit optionality. Balance sheet concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares this week (SEC filing), and platform data show multiple insider sales in recent months — a potential negative signal for investor sentiment. SEC Form 4 — insider sale

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.