SFE Investment Counsel Acquires 5,683 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

SFE Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 16.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,816 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,683 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $7,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $316,920,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at approximately $254,778,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 86.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,117,119 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $199,506,000 after purchasing an additional 516,593 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 4,142.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 478,072 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $93,439,000 after purchasing an additional 466,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 623.0% during the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 394,310 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $64,418,000 after buying an additional 339,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $190.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, June 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $225.00 price target (up from $220.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $218.00 in a report on Monday, April 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.65.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $221.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,001,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,597. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.76 and a fifty-two week high of $244.65. The firm has a market cap of $26.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $206.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $200.04.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.29% and a net margin of 13.81%.The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 923,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,704,800. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total transaction of $254,080.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,962,117.33. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,634 shares of company stock worth $9,812,283. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams?Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi?brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher?end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.