Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Scotiabank Analyst Says

Key Points

• Scotiabank raised its price target on Williams to $85 (from $84) and kept a "sector outperform" rating, implying about a 18.31% upside
• Williams shares traded around $71.85 mid-day with a market cap of about $87.8 billion and a P/E of ~33.6, while management set FY2026 guidance of 2.20–2.38 EPS versus sell-side average expectations of 2.08 EPS.
• Insiders sold roughly 51,369 shares (~$3.77M) over the last quarter (insiders own 0.47%), but institutional investors hold the bulk of the stock (about 86.44%), including large stakes from Norges Bank, Brookfield, Wellington and Clearbridge.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Scotiabank from $84.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "sector outperform" rating on the pipeline company's stock. Scotiabank's target price points to a potential upside of 18.31% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.07.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.85. The company had a trading volume of 6,002,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,360,643. 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 50 day moving average of $71.36 and a 200-day moving average of $64.37. Williams Companies has a 52 week low of $51.58 and a 52 week high of $76.87. The firm has a market cap of $87.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.57, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 291,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,906,803.16. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,369 shares of company stock worth $3,769,012. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its holdings 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 valued at $755,490,000 after acquiring an additional 7,884,730 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Williams Companies by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,077,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668,950 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,748,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,631,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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.

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