Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

21 Mar 2026, 09:20 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.50.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th.

Read Our Latest Research Report on WMB

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 51,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,769,012. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 190.3% during the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $755,490,000 after buying an additional 7,884,730 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,077,942,000 after buying an additional 6,668,950 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased 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 worth $1,281,875,000 after buying an additional 3,748,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 4,992.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,704,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $222,692,000 after buying an additional 3,631,986 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $72.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company has a market cap of $88.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $51.58 and a 52 week high of $76.87. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $69.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.52.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 98.13%.

About Williams Companies

(Get Free Report)

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.