Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $248.06.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value 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 approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $220,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,128 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 425.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $15,751,000 after acquiring an additional 63,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,632,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of WSM opened at $286.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.69. Williams-Sonoma has a 52 week low of $109.44 and a 52 week high of $319.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $276.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.39.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 31.02%.

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.