Evercore ISI Increases Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $320.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective raised by Evercore ISI from $300.00 to $320.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an in-line rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on WSM. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams-Sonoma from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a sell rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $317.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.67. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $319.70. The firm has a market cap of $20.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.66.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.71%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 43,329 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,906. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,269,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $283,955,000 after purchasing an additional 15,078 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $226,287,000 after purchasing an additional 18,004 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,292,000 after purchasing an additional 273,424 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,142,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,944,000 after acquiring an additional 35,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 970,737 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $195,882,000 after acquiring an additional 23,918 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

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.