Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $209.0625.

WSM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Evercore set a $200.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 2,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.49, for a total transaction of $436,374.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,494,833.99. The trade was a 8.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 32,684 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.64, for a total transaction of $5,904,037.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,166,688.32. This represents a 48.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,370 shares of company stock valued at $13,268,623. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 51.5% during the third quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 14,593 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,852,000 after purchasing an additional 4,961 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 30.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 997,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $194,947,000 after purchasing an additional 231,489 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 972,810 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $174,473,000 after purchasing an additional 89,779 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 39.5% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 282,503 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $55,215,000 after purchasing an additional 80,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kerusso Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 89.1% during the third quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 20,843 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,074,000 after purchasing an additional 9,820 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.3%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $175.58 on Wednesday. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $147.39 and a 1-year high of $222.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $186.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.60.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The specialty retailer reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.14. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 51.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 9.26 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.83%.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.