Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Now Covered by Analysts at Truist Financial

Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $84.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $74.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $70.13 and a 200-day moving average of $63.84. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $51.58 and a 52 week high of $76.87. The company has a market capitalization of $90.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.76, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 51,369 shares of company stock worth $3,769,012 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

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

Key Williams Companies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: New analyst coverage: Truist initiated coverage with a “buy” and an $84 price target (about a mid‑teens upside vs. current levels), which can attract demand from institutional investors and supports the stock. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Growth narrative: CEO Chad Zamarin highlighted rising power demand from data centers and how Williams is positioned to serve that market — a potential multi-year revenue/volume tailwind if Williams secures more data‑center power business. Williams CEO on data center power
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term upside in analyst models: US Capital Advisors’ note includes a FY2028 EPS projection of $2.95 and multi‑year quarterly forecasts that imply accelerating earnings out years, supporting a longer‑term bullish view if the company executes. MarketBeat coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Political/industry context: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed energy executive Alan Armstrong to the U.S. Senate. Armstrong’s background in energy could be supportive for industry policy, but the direct impact on Williams is uncertain and likely limited in the near term. Alan Armstrong Becomes Newest U.S. Senator
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term estimate cuts: US Capital Advisors trimmed several near‑term EPS forecasts (Q2 and Q3 2026 down slightly, and FY2026 lowered to $2.18 from $2.22). Those cuts increase short‑term execution risk and may pressure sentiment until results/visibility improve. MarketBeat coverage

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.