Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.09, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. Williams-Sonoma updated its FY 2025 guidance to EPS.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of WSM opened at $172.68 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $130.07 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $192.29 and a 200-day moving average of $182.45.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,534,477.59. This represents a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,153 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.84, for a total transaction of $626,942.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,787,999.92. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 114,153 shares of company stock worth $22,901,008. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WSM. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,139,477 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,199,961,000 after purchasing an additional 147,780 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at $254,778,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 31.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,094,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $213,888,000 after buying an additional 263,027 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 23.6% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 818,776 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $133,763,000 after buying an additional 156,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.4% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 750,644 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $146,713,000 after acquiring an additional 10,096 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $202.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $168.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.41.

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.