Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Receives $178.93 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $178.93.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock worth $21,828,609. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WSM. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $145.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $177.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.75. Williams-Sonoma has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

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.