Evercore ISI Cuts Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Price Target to $300.00

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) had its price objective trimmed by Evercore ISI from $315.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an in-line rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WSM. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a sell rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a hold rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $279.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.24. Williams-Sonoma has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at $152,843,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at $56,497,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $50,715,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% during 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 period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $29,782,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.