Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Increases Dividend to $1.13 Per Share

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of 1.13 per share by the specialty retailer on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90.

Williams-Sonoma has increased its dividend by an average of 20.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. Williams-Sonoma has a payout ratio of 28.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Williams-Sonoma to earn $16.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.1%.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $282.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $265.33 and its 200 day moving average is $211.40. Williams-Sonoma has a 12 month low of $109.44 and a 12 month high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. Research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,185,328.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $55,499,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth about $56,497,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $50,715,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,292,000 after buying an additional 273,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $29,782,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $248.06.

About Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.