Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Trading Down 2.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)’s share price dropped 2.1% on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $315.00 to $300.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. Williams-Sonoma traded as low as $279.18 and last traded at $282.55. Approximately 1,231,111 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 45% from the average daily volume of 849,937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $288.53.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WSM. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com cut Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $248.06.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, 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 transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $152,843,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at about $56,497,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $50,715,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 valued at $204,292,000 after buying an additional 273,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,782,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $265.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.40.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 24.71%.

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.